Times of Gallantry
by Lady Dawson
Summary: Complete. Arianna joins her brother and Elizabeth as they journey to World's End to rescue Jack. But as they begin the battle that will determine the outcome of their destinies, Arianna must endure happiness she never expected and an unbearable sacrifice.
1. Meeting in Singapore

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: Meeting in Singapore

The boat rowed forward as two women dressed in brown, shapeless cloaks with a pointed straw hat shielding their faces rowed through the Singapore harbour. One of them had blonde hair that was pulled back away from her face and brown eyes, giving off a fierce and intelligent look. She gave off an air of command and inner fire that was equal to some of the most fierce and bloodthirsty pirates. Elizabeth Swann, once the high-born daughter of the governor of Port Royal, looked towards her companion.

Sitting next to her and rowing in time with Elizabeth was the sister of her fiancé, Will Turner. Arianna had many of the characteristics of her brother, but her hair was lighter in colour than Will's and her eyes were a deep blue, the colour of the sea, unlike her brother's brown ones. She held herself with a quiet confidence and wisdom, grown old before her time by her gift of the Sight.

Arianna, already worried about the venture that they were attempting, glanced at her friend. "_The King and his men stole the Queen from her bed,_" she whispered softly. She had always sung this song to soothe her nerves; her father, Bootstrap Bill Turner, had taught it to her when she was a girl. "_And bound her in her bones. The seas be ours and by the powers. Where we will, we'll roam. Yo ho, all together, hoist the colours high. Heave ho, thieves and beggars. Never shall we die._"

"_Some have died and some are alive,_" Elizabeth sang, continuing the song with her. Arianna smiled at her friend as she continued to row the boat along, singing the song that had been forbidden to her back in Port Royal. And being the good girl that she was, Arianna hadn't sung it. But things were different now. She was different. Arianna Turner was a pirate.

"_Others sail on the sea. With the keys to the cage and the devil to pay, we lay to Fiddler's Green,_" the girls sang quietly together, rowing further into the harbour while keeping a look out. "_The bell has been raised from its watery grave. Hear its_ _sepulchral tone. A call to all, pay heed the squall, turn your sails to home. Yo ho, haul together. Hoist the colours high. Heave ho—_"

"Thieve and beggar," an accented voice finished up for them as Arianna climbed on deck after Elizabeth. "_Never shall we die_." The man that approached was definitely Chinese and a pirate as he looked at them severely. "A dangerous song to be singing, for anyone who are ignorant of its meaning. Particularly two women. Particularly two women _alone_," he added with a sneer.

"And what makes you think that they're alone?" Hector Barbossa, their captain, approached from behind them. Once, Arianna might have feared him, especially since he was the one who led the pirate attack against Port Royal over a year ago and then kidnapped Elizabeth, believing she was the child of William Turner, her father.

Arianna and her brother Will rushed to rescue her, relying on the aid of Captain Jack Sparrow, who wanted his ship back, which was under Barbossa's property. After Barbossa's death, the trio went back to Port Royal to get married, where Arianna was reunited with her love, Finn Warren.

Although Will and Elizabeth were blissfully happy with the engagement until their wedding day, Arianna's love life proved melancholic, for Finn's father would not have a pirate for a daughter-in-law and refused to let Finn marry her. Arianna was almost thrilled when she was arrested for piracy and assisting in the escape of a known pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow. Right before she left with her brother to find Jack and get his help in order to buy their freedom from Lord Beckett, Finn had found her and told her that he would love her forever, but so long as Beckett had control, they would be forced to stay apart.

But with Jack Sparrow, nothing was ever simple. He agreed to trade his compass if they would help him find the key to the Dead Man's Chest, which contained the still-beating heart of Davy Jones. Whoever had the heart could command Jones to do whatever they wanted. Jack had a debt to pay to Jones, which was why he was so desperate to find the chest.

Unfortunately, no one could escape Jones and Jack went down with his ship. The rest of the crew managed to escape, because Elizabeth had chained Jack to the ship, preventing him from leaving. Both she and Arianna knew that the kraken would never have stopped hunting them, were Jack with them. And now Jack Sparrow was dead and it was up to them to rescue him.

The heart of Davy Jones, which Jack had fought so fiercely to find, was now in the hands of Lord Beckett. He was more powerful than ever, with the _Flying Dutchmen _at the head of his fleet. Arianna was scared to death that something had happened to Finn, because right before they left to go to Singapore, she had the most horrible feeling that something was going to happen to him. His life was split in two directions and his life could end very shortly very quickly.

She prayed that he was still alive. Arianna couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again. If anything else, she needed to see him one last time.

"You protect them?" Tai Huang asked Barbossa as he walked into view. Elizabeth moved forward so fast that Arianna half-thought that she flew. Before Arianna could so much as stop her, Elizabeth had retrieved the knife from her belt and had the blade on his neck.

"And what makes you think that we need protecting?" she wanted to know as the other men pointed their guns towards Elizabeth. Automatically, Arianna yanked out her sword and pointed it warningly towards them.

"You fire on her and you're going to have me to deal with," she said warningly. They looked at each other, then towards Tai Huang, who seemed to be the leader.

"Your master will be expecting us," Barbossa told them calmly, as though women threatening pirates was a common occurrence for him. "And an unexpected death would put a slight pall on our meeting." He gave both girls a warning look and Elizabeth lifted the knife away from Tai Huang and Arianna lowered her sword.

The sound of East India Trading Company men overhead caused all of them to duck out of sight. Arianna glanced upward, wondering if her brother was all right. They hadn't heard from him since he had left to steal the navigational charts from Sao Feng.

Motioning to them, Tai Huang slipped through a tunnel and they all followed him. Arianna glanced overhead, feeling a slightly familiar presence near her as she slipped inside. But she could have sworn that she felt someone watching her as she did so.

"Have you heard anything from Will?" Elizabeth asked Barbossa quietly as they followed Tai Huang through the sanctuary of Singapore pirates.

"I trust young Turner to acquire the charts," Barbossa replied, not breaking his stride as he followed their guide. "And the two of you to remember your place in the presence of Captain Sao Feng." Arianna couldn't help rolling her eyes; remembering her place was not exactly what she had in mind. And Elizabeth never was one for holding her tongue.

"Is he that terrifying?" she wanted to know, glancing sideways towards Barbossa, who smiled forebodingly.

"He's much like myself," he answered. "But absent my merciful nature and sense of fair play."

Arianna sighed. "So in other words, we just keep our mouths shut and let you do the talking," she replied. Barbossa always got annoyed with her whenever she spoke the truth. And she enjoyed getting a rise out of him, considering he'd almost killed her best friend and her brother once before. "Just so he knows that you have command over the Jack's crew and will actually listen to you."

Barbossa's face darkened as he looked towards her. "Do you enjoy trying my patience, Miss Turner?" he asked her.

"Actually, I just enjoy speaking my mind," Arianna answered with a shrug. "Trying your patience is just a bonus." She ignored his look of cold fury as they were navigated to the gate that led to Sao Feng, where they were forced to give up their weapons.

Knowing that they wouldn't be able to get in the room otherwise, Arianna pulled out all the weapons that she had. Her sword, two guns hidden in her cloak, a couple of explosives. Reaching down, she pulled out the daggers hidden on the inside of her boots and placed them on the table.

They glanced her over and nodded, satisfied that she could have no more weapons hidden on her person, but then they glanced at Elizabeth, who still had her coat on, hiding the pistols that were underneath it. "Did you think because she is a woman, we would not suspect her of treachery?" he asked, directing the question towards Barbossa.

The pirate captain didn't falter, however, and he smiled pleasantly at Tai Huang. "Well, when you put it that way," he remarked. Elizabeth was forced to give up every hidden weapon that she had, even removing some of her clothing so that they could be sure.

Finally, they were given admittance into the room, where they were given cautious and menacing looks from the pirates there. Arianna hated the way that some of them leered at her, but put up with it for the time being. She knew perfectly well how to take care of herself and she had Elizabeth right beside her, along with the rest of the crew somewhere. They were right underneath them, she realised, sensing their presence underneath the floorboard.

When they finally walked up to the captain, he turned around, steam rising up from behind him. The two women next to him she assumed were his concubines. He was a tall and dangerous looking man, one of the most notorious pirates that she had ever met.

"Captain Barbossa," Sao Feng said as he looked towards his guests. "Welcome to Singapore." He walked towards them. "I understand that you have a request to make of me."

"More of a proposal to put to you," Barbossa answered. "I have a venture and I find myself in need of a ship and a crew." Sao Feng nodded slightly as he walked away from him.

"Hmm," he mused, glancing towards them carefully. Arianna had a sense of foreboding and it didn't have anything to do with the mission that they were trying to accomplish. There was something—or someone—nearby. "This is an odd coincidence."

"Because you happen to have a ship and a crew that you don't need?" Elizabeth asked, ignoring the look that Barbossa shot her that clearly told her to stay quiet.

Sao Feng chuckled and shook his head. "No," he told her. "Because earlier this day, not far from here, a thief broke into my most revered uncle's temple and tried to make off with these." He picked up a set of ancients charts from one of his men. "The navigational charts. The route to the Farthest Gate." He tossed them back to his man. "Wouldn't it be amazing if this venture of yours took you to the world beyond this one?"

"It would strain credulity at that," Barbossa said, keeping his calm. Arianna had to admit that he was good at staying calm when it was clear that he had found them out. But now she was worried about what had happened to Will.

She didn't have to wonder for long. Sao Feng nodded towards some pirates, who lifted someone held prisoner under the baths. Arianna's blood turned cold in her veins as she stared at the prisoner.

"Will," she murmured, staring in shock at her captured twin brother.


	2. Reunion

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Reunion

Sao Feng walked towards Will, pointing towards him as he directed his attention back towards the three pirates standing in the middle of the room. Arianna stared at her brother and his brown eyes met her blue ones. With her eyes, she asked him if he was all right. He gave a short nod and glanced towards Sao Feng.

"This is the thief," he said. "Is his face familiar to you?" Elizabeth and Barbossa shook their heads while Arianna settled for looking positively puzzled at the accusation. Sao Feng smirked as he pulled out a knife, holding it menacingly towards her brother. "Well, then," he replied, taking aim. "Then I guess he has no further need of it."

"Will!" Arianna exclaimed.

"No!" Elizabeth shouted, about to rush forward when Barbossa stopped her. Sao Feng didn't move, merely replaced the knife now that their cover had been blown and walked back to the centre of the room. Arianna sensed the anger radiating from him.

"You come into my city and you betray my hospitality," he said, looking at them lividly.

Barbossa looked worried, but he seemed to try and find a way out of the predicament that they were in. He took a deep breath. "Sao Feng, I assure you that I had no idea that—"

"That he would get caught!" Sao Feng roared. Arianna sighed; he had a point there. None of them had thought Will would get caught. She looked around as the Singapore pirates started to surround them and shifted nervously, wishing that she had her sword with her. "You intend to attempt the voyage to Davy Jones' Locker. But I cannot help but wonder . . . why?"

Fetching a coin from his pocket, Barbossa tossed it to Sao Feng, who caught it in his hand and put it to his ear, as one would a seashell, and listened to the song that radiated from it. "The song has been sung," Barbossa said quietly, "the time is upon us. We must convene the Brethren Court. As one of the nine pirate lords, you must honour the call."

Sao Feng sniffed slightly, glancing at his concubine. "More steam," he said quietly. She pulled the cord, but nothing happened. Arianna glanced towards Elizabeth worriedly; hopefully Gibbs and the others would figure out what to do before they caught on to phase two. "More steam!" he yelled and she anxiously tugged on the cord again.

This time, to Arianna's relief, steam rose up from behind him and she relaxed slightly. "There is a price on all our heads. It is true," Sao Feng said, not bothered by the delay. "It seems that the only way a pirate can turn profit anymore is to betray other pirates."

"We must put our differences aside," Barbossa said. "The first Brethren Court gave us rule of the seas. But now that rule is being challenged by Lord Cutler Beckett."

"Against the East India Trading Company, what value is the Brethren Court?" Sao Feng replied, apparently not satisfied with his response. "What can any of us do?"

"You can fight!" Elizabeth exclaimed, striding forward. One of Sao Feng's men moved to stop her, but Arianna moved between them, giving Elizabeth the opportunity to speak her mind. "You are Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore. You command in an age of piracy where bold captains sail free waters. Where waves aren't measured in feet, but as increments of fear, and those who pass the test become legend." She paused, letting her words sink in and Arianna stepped forward.

"Would you have that era come to an end on your watch?" she asked quietly. "The most notorious pirates from around the world are uniting against our enemy and you would sit here and do nothing, out of fear and cowardice?"

Sao Feng looked angry for a minute, but then he walked towards them. "Elizabeth Swann and Arianna Turner," he said as he circled them. "There is more to the two of you than meets the eye, isn't there? And the eye does not go wanting," he added. Will looked like he wanted to attack Sao Feng for that remark, but being tied up, that option wasn't the best one at the moment. "But I cannot help but notice that you have failed to answer my question," he said, pointing towards Barbossa. "What is it that you seek in Davy Jones' Locker?"

"Jack Sparrow!" Will said. The two concubines giggled; obviously, they'd known the charms of Captain Jack Sparrow. "He's one of the pirate lords."

Looking outraged, Sao Feng walked away, knocking some objects over due to his fury. "The only reason I would want Jack Sparrow returned from the land of the dead is so that I can send him back _myself_!"

Barbossa threw an annoyed look towards Will before he walked to Sao Feng. "Jack Sparrow holds one of the nine pieces of eight," he said. "He failed to pass it along to a successor before he died. So we must go and get him back."

Arianna noticed that Sao Feng was staring at the back of one of his men curiously, as though he had seen something that the others had not. "So," he said, "you admit that you have deceived me. Weapons!" he roared and the Singapore crew sprung to action. Arianna glanced down, hoping to spot some sign of Gibbs and the others to get them their weapons before it was too late and they were all dead.

"Sao Feng, I assure you, our intentions are strictly honourable," Barbossa protested. At that same moment, six swords were thrown into the air from below and Arianna caught two of them, glaring at the men as she held them expertly. She was more dangerous with one sword, but she could hold her own with two.

Without warning Sao Feng grabbed the man he'd been looking at before, his sword at his throat. "Drop your weapons or I kill your man!"

Arianna, Elizabeth, Will, and Barbossa all looked at each other in bewilderment. "Kill him," Barbossa said indifferently. "He's not our man." Sao Feng stared at him, then at the captive.

"If he's not with you," Arianna said slowly, "and he's not with us . . ."

"Then who is he with?" Will finished up for his sister while Barbossa looked around, suddenly worried.

Suddenly, it dawned on Arianna what she had been sensing all day. "Beckett," she whispered. "They've found us!"

At that exact moment, the doors flung open and soldiers came charging in, gunshots fired. Arianna lunged forward to free her brother, tossing him her extra sword. "Get Elizabeth!" she told him as she rushed to battle. "GO!"

Will, she could see, didn't look happy about leaving his sister alone, but the situation decreed no other option. Arianna ducked underneath the man's sword and drove her own into his chest. Looking around for the others, she saw them as they emerged from underneath, attack the soldiers that had appeared. How had they found them? she wondered as she plunged her sword into another soldiers, yanking it out just in time to twist it underneath her arm and strike the soldier that was behind her.

"Arianna!" Will yelled at her as an explosion emerged. Ducking for cover, she looked towards Will as he waved his hand frantically towards her. "Come on!" She nodded, striking down one last soldier as she ran to her brother and best friend as they hurried outside.

Gasping for breath as she managed to get outside, Arianna was about to join her brother when she felt someone sneak up from behind. She turned around to find a soldier behind her, seconds from killing her when a sword came flying out of nowhere and struck the soldier down. Whirling around, she was about to strike the soldier when she saw the green eyes that were staring at her in shock. He snatched up his sword as he looked to her.

"Finn," she whispered. Lieutenant Finn Warren was staring at her in equal shock, but came to it as he grabbed her and pulled her underneath the docks, his face white. "What are you doing? Finn, where are you taking me?"

"Alone, so we can talk," he whispered back as they managed to get to safety, where he looked towards her, the tension leaving him visibly. He smiled, looking relieved and happy. "You're alive."

"Of course I'm alive," she retorted, gripping her sword tightly as they heard explosion from up above. "It's you I was worried about. Finn . . . I had the most awful thing something had happened to you."

"It almost did," Finn told her as he cupped her head, kissing her passionately. Arianna, for a moment, forgot that there was a battle going on outside of them and let herself get swept up in the kiss, forgetting that there was anything else happening. For that moment, nothing else existed but the two of them.

The sound of gunfire right above them forced them to break apart. "Oh, Anna," he whispered, stroking her hair as she clung to him. "You have no idea how hard these last few months have been, unable to know where you were."

"I have an idea," she replied with a laugh. Finn smiled slightly, pressing his forehead against hers. "Tell me that you love me."

Finn looked at her, green eyes meeting blue. "I love you," he told her. "Do you love me?"

"Always and forever," she replied, looking up at him. "Finn, if they find out that you've been down here with me, that you let a pirate go, more importantly, one of the Turner pirates, they'll—"

"It doesn't matter," Finn murmured into her hair. "I'd rather die tomorrow than spend one more day without you in my arms." He looked towards her. "Anna . . . I love you. And I . . . I wish that somehow, things could be different. There has to be a way for us to be together."

Arianna knew the answer, as though it were sitting in front of them the entire time. "Come with me," she said. Finn blinked and stared at her as though she were insane. "Come with me!"

"Just go?" Finn echoed. "Right here, now?"

"With me," she replied, stroking his cheek. "I know what happened to the people back at Port Royal, Finn. I know what Beckett's doing to innocent people and you can't tell me that you want that." He closed his eyes at her touch. "Listen to me, Finn, we can save more people by breaking the law than we can by obeying it. If you can give me one good reason to stay behind, then I will let you go without protest. One reason," she said softly as fireworks exploded nearby. "Finn . . ."

The love of her life lifted his head. "I have more reason and will to leave than I have to stay," he whispered. "But . . . I'm afraid something will happen to you if I go with you."

"And I'm afraid that something will happen to you if you stay," Arianna responded. "Nothing will happen to me, I promise. Come with me," she said, holding out her hand.

Finn nodded, yanking off his overcoat and tossing it into the water, along with his hat. Now, nobody could tell that he was one of the soldiers that had attacked them. "Let's go," he said quickly but just as Arianna moved to climb out of the harbour, he grabbed her, pulling her back, clamping his hand over her mouth. "Sorry," he whispered as soldiers ran past them. "Now we can go. Hurry!" he instructed.

Arianna leaped out of the harbour with Finn by her side as they fought their way through. "Can you see Will or Elizabeth?" she yelled at him, trying to see through the crowd.

Finn looked over them. Taller than she was, he was able to see further than she could. He pointed. "There!" he called, grabbing her arm. Arianna hurried through the crowd, Finn right behind her as they fought the soldiers, none of whom noticed that it was one of their lieutenants that they were fighting, as they managed to get to her brother and best friend.

"There you are!" Will said in relief as he hugged his sister tightly. "I was so afraid that we'd lost you." She smiled slightly, hugging her brother as she looked towards Finn. Will's eyes travelled to where he was looking at. Almost instantly, they narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your sister," Finn said dryly. Will stared at him, then looked at Arianna, who nodded in confirmation. "And joining the crew."

"Will, please," Arianna said pleadingly as she looked at her brother. He sighed and walked away without a word. Looking at her brother, then towards Finn, Arianna let out a sigh. "Let's get going. We have got to get out of here before it's too late."

"Your brother really likes me, doesn't he?" Finn inquired dryly. Arianna laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they hurried after the crew. Somehow, Will had managed to get the navigational charts, a ship, and a crew. Sao Feng was going to cover their escape while they went to World's End, then meet them at Shipwreck Cove.

As they boarded the ship and started sailing away from Singapore with gunfire and battling echoing in the background, Arianna stared at it as they sailed away. Hearing footsteps walk up behind her, she turned around and saw Finn walk up to stand behind her.

"Are you going to regret it?" she asked softly.

"If you're with me?" Finn asked her with a small smile. "Not a chance." She smiled back and he kissed her. Wrapping her arms around him, Arianna stood up, feeling safer than she had in the longest time. "Marry me," he whispered when he pulled away.

"What?" she asked, looking up, startled.

"Marry me," he said softly. "Here, now. If we are to die in the near future, Anna, then I want to die as your husband."


	3. Impromptu Wedding

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: Impromptu Wedding

Without even bothering to knock, Arianna barged into the captain's quarters, where Barbossa and Tia Dalma, who had joined them on their venture to Davy Jones' Locker, were talking in angry voices. Both of them looked around at her, however, and stopped talking the moment she entered. "Oh, sorry to interrupt," she said, smiling towards Tia Dalma.

"No need to apologise, Arianna Turner," she said in that mystical voice that was characteristic of her. "We were finished anyhow."

"Right," Arianna said quickly, glancing towards Barbossa. "Captain, I need a favour. Don't worry, it doesn't require going off course or anything, it's something that can be done on the ship."

"Ah," Barbossa said, walking towards her. "And what might that favour be, Miss Turner?"

"I need you to marry me and Finn," she answered, placing her hands on her hips and glaring up at him. Then, realising that it wasn't the best way to get him to do her a favour, she softened her gaze. "Please. You're a captain, that means you can perform a marriage ceremony, doesn't it?"

Barbossa walked away from her, looking sceptical. "And I suppose that this Finn is that lieutenant that joined us after Singapore."

"Yes."

"And you two would like to get married?"

"Yes." Arianna hated the way that he was dancing around the answer. She didn't like Barbossa even a little, considering he had led a mutiny against Jack over ten years ago and left him to die. Jack was an annoying git, but at least he had _some_ propriety.

"What's in it for me?" Barbossa asked her, smirking towards her. Arianna slammed her hand on the desk so hard that the desk actually splintered a little. The smile vanished.

"What's in it for you is that I don't go around to the crew and convince them to lead a mutiny against you," she snapped. "Now that we've got the navigational charts, do you think we really need you?"

"I think you do," Barbossa said lightly.

"Really?" Arianna asked calmly. "Do either one of us want to test that theory?" Barbossa glared at her. "Finn is a good man and he has worked well on this ship, you can't deny that." He sighed. "And I'm only on this voyage to rescue Jack, so I think it would be wise not to test me. I really don't care what happens to you, Barbossa. I'm just asking for one simple favour and in return, I won't kill you in the middle of the night like you deserve."

Barbossa smiled then, looking at her. "Pirate," he said lightly. "Very well, go get this lover of yours and let's get this over with. And mind you, bring two witnesses, unless you want to have it in front of the whole crew."

"Why not?" Arianna said with a shrug. "Gibbs and the others are friends of mine, plus we can have a whole company of men to stand witness. I'll go inform everyone, be outside in ten minutes."

She walked away before Barbossa could change his mind and caught Tia Dalma's wink as she hurried out.

"What did he say?" Finn asked the moment that she left. He had been standing outside of the door while she had been talking to the captain, waiting to find out how it had gone. "Did he agree to marry us or do we have to swim ashore to have someone conduct the ceremony?"

Arianna laughed. "Oh, I think Will would have something to say about that," she said dryly. "No, he's going to do the ceremony. In about ten minutes, so get ready, Lieutenant Warren," she said with a smile.

Finn raised his eyebrows and climbed onto the deck where everybody could see him. "Men!" he shouted. "And beautiful ladies," he added, looking towards Arianna and Elizabeth. Will shook his head, though look amused as he heard this. "I'd like to make an announcement. In about ten minutes, the captain is going to come out here and perform the ceremony, to which this beautiful woman before you will become my wife."

Giggling slightly as applause emerged from the crew, Arianna couldn't stop the blush that crossed her face as Elizabeth raced to her, looking exhilarated. "Oh, I can't believe this!" she exclaimed, hugging Arianna quickly. "You're really going to do this? Here, now?"

"Don't see anyplace better anytime in the near future," Finn said dryly as Will walked over to his sister.

"Am I going to be able to stop this?" he wanted to know, looking between the happy couple. Arianna shook her head at her brother. "That's what I was afraid of. Come here, you," he said, hugging her sister tightly. "Congratulations. And Finn . . ." he added, looking towards his soon-to-be brother-in-law. "You hurt her again and you're going to have me to deal with." Finn back away from her intimidating brother.

"Uh . . . um, don't worry, Will," he said, the thrill that had been in his face beforehand replaced with sudden worry and fear. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her. You have my word." Will sighed and looked at the happy look on his sister's face.

"Then you have my blessing," he said softly. "So who are you going to have as the best man?"

"I was kind of hoping that you would," Finn admitted. "You're the only person that I really know here." Will chuckled as he placed an arm on Finn, leading him away from the girls.

Arianna looked towards Elizabeth. "Will you be my maid-of-honour?" she asked. Elizabeth laughed and nodded.

"Of course I will," she said, smiling from ear-to-ear. "I can't believe that you're getting married, right here! When did the two of you decide on this?"

"Shortly after leaving Singapore," Arianna answered as she walked away with Elizabeth.

--

"I, Arianna Turner, take you, Finn Warren, as my husband."

"I, Finn Warren, take you, Arianna Turner, as my wife."

With those twenty words, Arianna and Finn were joined in holy matrimony and though they were heading for a battle that would change their fates forever, none of that mattered. This was their wedding day and their wedding night and nothing else would matter. This was their day and nothing could take that away from them.

--

Almost an hour later, Arianna emerged from below deck, fully dressed and her hair pulled back away from her face, mostly to hide the fact that it was severely tangled that she couldn't get control of it without the use of a hairbrush. Arianna walked over to Elizabeth, shivering slightly as she noticed that the air had grown cold during the night. "Where are we at?" she wanted to know, peering over the edge. There were icebergs hovering in the water.

"Somewhere near World's End," Elizabeth answered softly, glancing sideways towards her. "Did you have fun last night?"

"Elizabeth Swann!" Arianna said, giggling. "I cannot believe that you just said that!" Her best friend grinned back, but she looked away as Will walked towards them. "Good morning, Will." She kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm not so sure about the 'good' part, but good morning," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Elizabeth forced a small smile and then walked away, leaving the two siblings to themselves. Will watched her go before looking back towards his sister. "So," he said with a forced smile. "Where's your husband?"

"Don't give me that, William Turner," Arianna said sharply, placing her hands on her hips. "What's going on with you and Elizabeth?" Her brother sighed, looked at her, then led her away to a part of the deck where no one could hear them talking. "Will, what's going on?"

"Can you promise that you won't tell anybody?" Will asked. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I can keep no secrets from my husband, Will," she said.

"Can you promise to keep it from everyone else?" he asked. "And make sure that he does?" She nodded, wondering what was going on. "The day that the kraken took the _Pearl_ down, I saw Elizabeth kissing Jack."

Arianna felt her mouth fall open and she stared at him incredulously, unable to believe what she was hearing. Her mind was screaming at her that it wasn't true, but when she thought about the guilt that she'd been feeling from Elizabeth for months and her leaving Jack to die, she knew that it was true. It would explain why she'd managed to trap him onto the ship.

"Are you sure?" she whispered, staring at her brother. He nodded, glancing out at the frozen waters. "Will . . . maybe you didn't see what you thought that you saw . . ."

"What else could it have been?" Will demanded, rounding on her. She opened her mouth, but couldn't come up with anything as she leaned against the ledge, looking at her brother sideways. "Why did she do this?"

"You're going to have to ask Elizabeth for that," she answered softly, placing a gentle hand on her brother's shoulder. "Once we rescue Jack, maybe we'll have some answers, Will."

"I don't care about Jack," her brother said sharply. "All I care about is getting the _Pearl_ back so that we rescue our father." Arianna shivered slightly; their father, Bootstrap Bill, was a crewmember on the _Flying Dutchmen_. While aboard her, the twins had promised to free their father, but Arianna was starting to wonder if that were possible anymore.

"I hope so," she said softly. A small picture formed in her mind of the _Flying Dutchmen_ with a man at the helm that seemed familiar, but it went by so fast that she couldn't catch a good glimpse of it. Still, the picture made her shiver involuntarily as she thought about and she felt as though she knew the man there, though who it was, she couldn't imagine.

Later that day, it had grown colder and was getting colder by the minute. Arianna had declined taking Finn's coat, telling him that he needed to stay warm as much as she did, but in the end, he wouldn't let up until she had finally taken the coat.

The two men were pouring over the charts and were talking amongst themselves as she walked over to them. "Over the edge, over again," Will was saying as they sat shivering. Arianna sat down between them, looking down at the charts curiously. "Sunrise sets. Flash of green."

"Does anything ever make sense?" Arianna grumbled as she shivered. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to rub warmth into them. "Or are we supposed to ask the good captain what its supposed to mean?"

Barbossa looked over the charts when they brought them to him and then looked towards the twins. "Care to interpret, Captain Barbossa?" Will asked him once they were lowered.

Instead of answering, Barbossa looked towards Gibbs. "Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?" he asked.

Gibbs looked towards him before returning his gaze towards the landscape, staring over the frozen sea. "I reckon I've seen my fair share," he answered with a nod. "Happens on a rare occasion. The last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without ever seeing it. Some claim to have seen it who haven't. And some say . . ."

"It signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead," Ragetti announced as he sat shivering.

"Trust me, young Master Turner," Barbossa said. "And Lieutenant and Mrs. Warren, of course," he added with a nod to them. "It's not getting to the land of the dead that's the problem. It's getting back."

"Somehow," Arianna said, "that doesn't really comfort me a whole lot."


	4. Into the Locker

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: Into the Locker

As they sailed further and further away from the world that they knew and closer to the one that held Jack Sparrow captive, the cold weather slowly began to warm and Arianna watched the dark and dreary waters as they sailed. Finn walked up behind her as she sat next to the edge, staring over into the seas as night began to fall upon them again.

"I never talked to you about what happened back at Port Royal, did I?" he asked softly as he wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back against him, suppressing a small sigh.

"Finn, I told you," she said softly, "I know what happened. You know that I see things that others can't. I saw what happened to the people there, in a vision, right after Jack died."

"That's not what I meant," Finn replied dryly, "although that strange way you have of seeing things does tend to make me uneasy. It's okay," he said with a grin. "It just makes you all the more stranger and that's just the way that you are. And I would not change you for the world."

Arianna grinned slightly as her husband kissed her forehead. "What did you mean then?" she asked seriously.

There was a long pause and then Finn sighed, pulled away from her and she turned around so that she could look at him properly. "Finn, what's going on? What happened?"

"After you three left," Finn said with a sigh, "Lord Beckett was determined to extract information about you three from me, because he knew that we had been involved." He shook his head. "No matter how much my father pleaded for me to give him the information, I couldn't do it. My father was furious with me, so was Lord Beckett. Anna . . . those last few months were some of the hardest of my life."

Arianna nodded, remembering how she had felt when they had been apart. She had loved him so much that sometimes it hurt too much, remembering what they had and lost.

"But I felt your presence calling out to me, telling me to hold on," Finn said. "I really wanted to believe that we would find a way to be together, away from everything that we went through. Arianna, I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing you again, never hold you or kiss you . . . you were in my every thought, always right there beside me.

"A couple months ago, Lord Beckett finally told me that I could either give up the information that I had or my father and I would be walking to the gallows. Father asked me why I continued to be so loyal to you, knowing who and what you were."

"What did you tell him?" Arianna asked him, drawing her legs underneath her as she looked at him. His green eyes met her sea-blue ones and he smiled, stroking her cheek gently.

"I told him," he answered, "that I could never betray you, because the moment I saw you, my destiny unfolded before me." Arianna blushed as she looked away. "And that I could never betray you because you would never betray me. If this was the price for my loving you, then I would take it. Death was nothing to what he had put you through. The course of true love never did run smooth and I was prepared to fight Beckett for everything I was worth if that was what it took to find a way back to you." Finn sighed. "My father didn't say anything for a minute, but when he did, all he said was, 'Your mother was the same way.'"

Arianna stared at him in amazement; Mrs. Warren, Finn's mother, had died giving birth to his younger brother, who had died because he was born too early. Finn had been three or four at the time and didn't really remember her a whole lot. "What happened after that?"

Finn smiled faintly and shrugged. "Well, my father stood up, walked out of the room, and the next morning, I got a visit from Lord Beckett, telling me that my father was on his way to the gallows. I was to be released, because my father had been trying to force me into an arranged marriage that I wanted no part of."

For a full minute, Arianna didn't understand. "What?" she asked before realisation set in. "Wait a minute . . . he . . . he told them that he wanted you to marry me, so that you could pretend you didn't know me that well and . . . and—"

"And be able to stay alive long enough to find you," Finn agreed as Arianna stared at him before looking away towards the ocean, hardly able to comprehend what she was hearing. Mr. Warren, the man who had hated her for being an unruly woman and a pirate, had saved his son by lying to the authorities and letting him escape to her side? It hardly seemed possible.

"If we see him here," Arianna said at long last, "I'll have to thank him. I never would have expected it from him."

Finn smiled as he wrapped his arms around his wife, laying his head on top of hers. She sighed, feeling content just as she heard footsteps running by and she looked around to see her brother racing past them. Arianna jumped up and ran after him, Finn right behind her as Will came to a stop next to the captain at the wheel.

"Barbossa!" he barked. "Ahead!" Arianna looked towards the bow of the ship, but she could see nothing but darkness ahead of them.

"Aye," Barbossa agreed, looking almost glad to see whatever Arianna was missing, though a foreboding sensation ran through her veins. "We're good and lost now."

"Lost?" Elizabeth exclaimed. The rest of the crew had been attracted by the noise and clamoured around the deck to see what was happening.

Giving a small shrug, Barbossa merely smiled. "For certain you have to be lost to find a place that can't be found," he explained. "Elseways, everyone would know where it was."

"We're gaining speed," Gibbs observed as Finn looked over the edge, his eyes going wide at the sight.

Arianna joined her husband and her mouth dropped open as she saw what had attracted her brother's attention. She hurried forward to the bow of the deck to get a better look, but her first glance had been accurate; they were headed straight for a gigantic waterfall.

Will was issuing orders behind them, but Barbossa cut his orders off. "Nay! Belay that! Let her run straight and true!"

Elizabeth took one look at the waterfall and then rounded on Barbossa, furious. "You've doomed us all!" she cried out.

"Don't be so unkind," Barbossa told her with a sadistic smile. "You may not survive to pass through this way again and these be the last friendly words that you'll hear." Elizabeth gave him a dirty look before she looked around to rejoin the crew as they moved to stop the ship before she went over the edge, but even as they worked quickly, Arianna knew it would do no good.

The ship toppled over the edge and down to the dark oblivion of Davy Jones' Locker.

--

Arianna wasn't sure how long it was until she hit the bottom, plunging beneath the ocean water. It could have been hours, it could have been days, or it could have been a few minutes. There was no way to tell, really. That was the fate that awaited within the Locker, where time had no meaning, just stretched on forever, just plagued a person with their worst torment.

All she knew was the moment that she reached land, there was only a barren wasteland that awaited her eyes. She gaped at the horrible desert that lay before them as the crew all climbed onto the beach, staring at scene which met their eyes.

Arianna shivered slightly as Finn walked up behind her, staring around them incredulously. "I've seen graveyards cheerier than this place," he said softly, looking around. "If I get killed, remind me to do it so that I don't have to end up here."

"That's not funny," she said softly as she looked around as Elizabeth walked up, looking crestfallen.

"I don't see Jack," she said. Arianna wasn't sure whether she was angry with Elizabeth or not after Will's revelation to her. "I don't see anyone."

"He's here," Barbossa replied, looking dishevelled, but no more so than Arianna, Elizabeth, Finn, Will or anyone else. Everyone on the beach was wet, unkempt, and unruly from the fall down the waterfall. "Davy Jones never once gave up that what he took."

"And does it matter?" Will demanded as he walked up to Barbossa. The pirate captain barely even looked at him. "We're trapped here by your doing, no different than Jack."

Arianna glanced down just as crabs started crawling down the beach, right up to Tia Dalma. She was smiling slightly as she cradled one of them. "Witty Jack," she said, "is closer than you think."

Looking up on the horizon, towards the mountains of sand and dirt, Arianna gasped in surprise as she saw the silhouette of a familiar mast rise higher and higher until the whole ship was seen. "The _Black Pearl_!" she exclaimed. "Look, it's Jack!"

Captain Jack Sparrow, indeed, was riding on the mast as the ship rode through the sand, carried by crabs, and into the sea. Arianna looked towards Finn, who was wearing a disbelieving look on his face. "After everything you've seen so far, this is what surprises you?" she asked dryly. Finn managed a weak laugh as the crew started running towards their captain as Jack returned to the beach in a small boat.

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack commanded as he took a look at the crew at large. "I expect you're able to account for your actions, then."

Gibbs looked bewildered and Arianna cocked an eyebrow; this was not exactly how she had thought the reunion with Jack would be. "Sir?" he finally said, confused.

"There has been a perpetual and virulent lack of discipline upon my vessel," Jack told him. "Why?" Arianna shook her head as Finn looked towards her, an amused look on his face. "Why?" Jack repeated as Gibbs looked shocked. "Why is that, sir?"

"Sir, you're . . ." Gibbs lowered his voice, casting a quick glance around them. "You're in Davy Jones' Locker, Captain."

Jack looked torn between confusion and bewilderment at this statement as he looked around him. "I know that," he said firmly. "I know where I am. And don't think that I don't. Ah, Hector," he added, looking towards Barbossa as he approached. "It's been too long, hasn't it?"

"Aye, Isle de la Muerta, remember?" Barbossa responded as it seemed Jack's memory wasn't entirely intact. "You shot me."

"No, I didn't," Jack insisted before moving down the line. "Tia Dalma, out and about, eh? You add an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium." The mystic didn't look entirely happy at his statement.

"He thinks we're a hallucination," Will told her. Jack turned to him and his eyes travelled to move on to Arianna before returning to her brother as he walked up to him.

"William, tell me something," he said, "have you come because you and your sister here need my help to save a certain distressing damsel—or rather damsel in distress? Either one," he added.

"No," Will told him flatly.

"Well, then you wouldn't be here, would you?" Jack replied. "So you can't be here. Q.E.D., you're not really here."

"Jack!" Elizabeth appeared next to Arianna. "This is real, we're here."

The captain looked at her for a minute, then to Will and back again before hurrying away from them and returning to Gibbs and speaking in a hushed tone that nonetheless carried back over to them. "The Locker, you say?" he asked him. Gibbs nodded.

"We've come to rescue you," Arianna told him as she climbed up the beach back towards Jack, who turned to her.

"Have you now?" he replied. "That's very kind of you, but seeing as how I possess a ship and you don't, you're the ones who are in need of a rescue and I'm not sure as I'm in the mood."

"Don't even start on that again," Arianna told Barbossa as he opened his mouth to say something. "Quiet."

"Jack, Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones," Will told him. "He controls the _Flying Dutchmen_."

"He's taking over the seas!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"The song has already been sung," Tia Dalma said. "The Brethren Court is called."

"Listen to you people," Jack said, slightly annoyed as he walked away from them. "Leave you alone for a minute, look what happens. Everything's gone to pot."

"Jack, the world needs you back there," Arianna insisted, glaring at him. "And you need a crew to get back."

He turned to look at all of them, somewhat upset. "Why should I sail with any of you?" he asked. "Four of you have tried to kill me in the past. One of you succeeded."

Automatically, Will's eyes shifted to Elizabeth, who looked down in shame. "Oh, she's not told you," Jack said, seeing the exchange. "Well, then, you'll have loads to talk about while you're here." Arianna sighed as Jack walked over to Tia Dalma, taking her in critically. "As for you . . ." he began, but she smiled flirtatiously at him.

"Now, don't tell you that you didn't . . . _enjoy_ it at the time," she told him in that familiar, mystical voice.

Jack blushed, but shrugged, conceding her point. "Fair enough. All right, you can come," he told her moving on to Pintel. "Don't need you, you scare me. Gibbs, you can come. Marty." He winced, passing over Ragetti. "Cotton," he added and the parrot squawked. "Cotton's parrot, I'm a little iffy, but at least I'll have someone talk to. Arianna, I have no complaints about you at the moment," he said, nodding to her. "Who's this?"

"Finn Warren, her husband," Finn responded dryly.

Eyebrows went up and Jack glanced at her. She held up her left hand to prove the point and he nodded. "You're on board," he told him before moving over to the Chinese crew. "Who are you?"

"Tai Huang," the Chinese pirate said and nodded to the crew behind him. "These are my men."

"Where do your allegiances lie?" Jack questioned.

"With the highest bidder."

"I have a ship," Jack said brightly.

"That makes you the highest bidder," Tai Huang told him.

"Good man," Jack said. "Weigh anchor, all hands! Prepare to make sail," he said as he looked down at his compass. Arianna grinned as she glanced over his shoulder to see the spinning dial.

"Jack?" Barbossa was holding the navigational charts. "Which way you be going, Jack?"


	5. Back to the Real World

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Five: Back to the Real World

"Elizabeth left Jack to the kraken?" Finn muttered as they sat on the ship. Arianna nodded once, glancing towards the stairs, where she knew her brother and best friend were having the conversation that could change their lives. She now realised why Elizabeth had kissed him; it was the only way to get Jack chained to the _Pearl_ so that the kraken could kill him. "That's . . . pretty unbelievable. I mean . . . Elizabeth?"

"I know," Arianna said softly as he looked towards her as Jack walked up to the pair of them. "You two decided on whose captain yet?"

Ever since they had climbed on board, Jack and Barbossa had been arguing about who was the rightful captain of the _Pearl_, something that was starting to drive Arianna crazy. Even mild-tempered Finn had told her that if they didn't come to a decision soon, then he was going to toss them both overboard and leave them there just to get rid of the insanity.

"Of course not," Jack scoffed. "Why would you think that?" Arianna rolled her eyes, half-annoyed with him as she glanced over the side of the ship. "It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?" Jack asked, glancing towards the ocean. "One thing I missed in the Locker was the sea."

"Never got a view like this when I was in the army," Finn said, looking at Arianna. "Too busy obeying orders to sit down and watch the sea or the sunset. The only time I really got to enjoy myself was when I was away with you."

Arianna smiled at her husband as Jack shook his head at the pair of lovebirds. "So you two," he said, pointing to them, "you two are really married?" They both nodded and he grinned happily. "Good, that means it's one less Turner that I have to hear lovesick stories over. Between this one and her brother, I was ready to vomit. Well, what was the wedding like?" he asked eagerly. "Weddings are absolutely wonderful, you know. We should have a drink in toast of the two of you."

"The wedding was short," Arianna said dryly. "Just a small ceremony on the way here. If I could do it over, though, I think I would've picked a different captain to do the ceremony." Jack made a face as he glanced towards Barbossa, directing people on the ship.

"I see what you mean," he murmured. "Well, I take it that the two of you didn't have a proper honeymoon, then?" Both of them shook their heads, thought Arianna felt her face heat up at the thought of their wedding night. "Well, my gift to you will be taking you anywhere that you want to. It's on me, as soon as I get my ship back from that mutineer," he added darkly as he jumped up to go grab his captaining back from Barbossa.

"Oh, jeez, not again," Finn groaned, placing his head into his hands as arguing heated up again. Arianna sighed. "I can't hear much more of this or I'm going to go mad."

"That's it," Arianna exclaimed, standing up. "Enough, the both of you!" Both captains looked towards Arianna, startled, as she walked towards them in annoyance. "All right, this is what we're going to do. Jack, you are going to be captain of the starboard side. Barbossa, you'll be the other side. Now, can you both live with that?"

Barbossa scowled, but nodded mutely as he moved towards his side of the ship. "It seems like an agreeable accord," Jack muttered as he looked towards Arianna. "You know, you should really think about being captain of a ship one day, Arianna. Just not this one," he added quickly as he hurried off to his side of the ship.

"Thank you," Finn said in relief as he walked up behind her. Arianna shook her head in exasperation as she sat back down. "So, what exactly is this Brethren Court that we're heading to?"

"It's a gathering of the nine pirate lords," Arianna answered. "Jack's one of the pirate lords, that's why we had to go rescue him."

"Yeah, but what exactly are they planning on doing about Beckett?" Finn wanted to know.

Arianna shook her head, not having any idea on how they were planning to combat the powerful man who was determined to obliterate each and every one of them. "I just know that whatever it is, it's going to take all nine pirate lords and no less to do it."

--

Arianna rubbed her eyes slightly as she walked across the ship, staring over at the horizon, spotting the boats that were in the water at once, frowning as she joined her husband and brother by the edge. Will stopped Gibbs from loading his gun. "They're not a threat to us," he told him before looking at Tia Dalma. "Am I right?"

"We are nothing but ghosts to them," she replied.

"I know some of these people," Arianna whispered. "Some of them are from Port Royal." Her stomach clenched and Finn placed his hand onto hers.

Elizabeth climbed up next to her and her face lit up with joy as she saw one of the boats' occupants. "It's my father!" she whispered ecstatically. "We've made it back! Father!" she called to Governor Swann, who rode in the boat, unaware of his daughter's presence. "Father, here, look here!"

"Elizabeth," Jack spoke up. She looked at him as his expression turned to pity. "We're not back."

Almost instantly, her expression turned to disbelief and shock. But she still turned away from the captain to look at the governor. "Father!" she shouted, trying desperately to get his attention. "Father!"

Either he had heard her calls or he had caught sight of them, but either way, Governor Swann looked around, spotting his daughter. "Elizabeth," he said, recognising her. "Are you dead?" She shook her head. "I think I am."

"No," Elizabeth protested, shaking her head. "You can't be!" Will glanced towards his sister, who closed her eyes to block out the images for a minute before she looked back.

"There was this chest, you see," Governor Swann said absently. "It's odd, at the time it seemed so important. And a heart," he added while Elizabeth tried to get him to come aboard the ship. "I learned that if you stab the heart, yours must take its place. And you will sail the seas for eternity. The _Dutchmen_ must have a captain." He smiled faintly. "Silly thing to die for."

"Someone cast a line!" Elizabeth said desperately. Marty hurried to grab a rope. "Come back with us." She raced to Marty and grabbed the line, running back over to the edge, tossing it to her father. "Take the line!"

"A touch of destiny," Tia Dalma whispered softly. Arianna looked at her and saw she was looking at Will.

Arianna went still as she remembered the vision she had, of a new captain aboard the _Flying Dutchmen_. No, that couldn't be right, she thought firmly. There wasn't any possible way that Will would be the new captain, not after they had learned this. Sure, he had wanted to kill Jones to free their father, but now that he knew this, he wouldn't take that risk, would he? If he killed Jones, then he would save their father, but lose Elizabeth. Either way, Will would have to sacrifice one of them.

He would choose Elizabeth, she thought firmly. She had watched her brother as he had loved Elizabeth for over a decade, wondering when she would love him back. Of course he would choose her.

"I'm so proud of you, Elizabeth," Governor Swann said, ignorant of the line that was draped across the boat. Elizabeth was shrieking for him to take it, but he paid no mind to it.

"Father!" she shrieked, dropping the line as she raced towards the boat that was starting to leave them.

"She must not leave the ship!" Tia Dalma shouted and everyone raced towards her, going to stop her as Will grabbed her, pulling her back. Elizabeth fell into his arms, sobbing as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him.

Arianna looked helplessly at her best friend before turning to Tia Dalma, a questioning look in her eyes. "Is there a way?" she asked.

The mystic shook her head. "Him at peace," she answered.

No one said nothing as Will closed his eyes, taking Elizabeth in his arms and carrying her away from the crew, down below where she could drown out her grief in peace.

With a small sigh, Arianna looked towards the crew. "Well, let's get back to work, everyone, shall we?" she asked softly. At her command, the crew jumped back to action and Arianna looked at Finn. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders gently.

By the next morning, it seemed that everyone was on edge. They were nearing the end of their supplies, with no water or rum or anything else, and if they didn't escape the seas by sunset, then they would most likely be sailing the endless seas until the end of time.

"With no water, that's not likely to happen," Finn muttered as Arianna commented this to him.

"The green flash happens at sunset, not sunrise, doesn't it?" Will asked, overhearing them. "'Over the edge . . .'"

"But sunrises don't set," Arianna grumbled as she paced back and forth. "Sunsets _set_. Sunrises _rise_." She glanced over at Jack as he poured over the navigational charts, moving the charts around to read them better and muttering to himself.

Arianna rubbed her head in aggravation as she walked over to Elizabeth, sitting down next to her and adjusting Will's coat as it lay across her shoulders. "It'll be all right, Lizzie," she said softly. Elizabeth shook her head. "I lost both my parents, too."

"He killed him," Elizabeth said scathingly. Arianna nodded; there was no doubt about it, Lord Beckett was definitely responsible for Governor Swann's death. Perhaps not directly, but he had definitely played a hand in it. "I swear, he will not live to survive this, if I have to kill him myself."

There was no point in dissuading Elizabeth. Arianna knew she meant was she said, but she also knew that it would not be her best friend who dealt the final blow to Beckett. "We've got to get out of here first," she told her dryly. "Then you can kill Beckett if you want to." Elizabeth managed a weak smile as Jack suddenly jumped up, racing over to the edge of the ship.

"What's that?" he exclaimed. Arianna gave Elizabeth a quizzical look before she got up, joining Jack on the edge to see what was going on. He was looking at something before he raced over to the other side, before back again with the entire crew following in pursuit.

"What are we doing?" Finn inquired as he looked towards his wife curiously. She shrugged as she caught sight of the navigational carts and saw the words "Up is down" lined up to fit together.

"Up is down!" she whispered. "Of course!" If they flipped the ship, then they would be able . . . "We're rocking the ship!"

"You've gone as mad as he is!" Finn complained, shaking his head at her antics. Arianna only laughed as Barbossa yelled below deck for them to cut loose everything that moved, allowing more weight to put pressure on the ship.

It seemed to take forever, but finally the ship was flipped over as they were plunged underwater. Arianna grabbed Finn's hand as he seized a rope, holding them onto the ship as, without warning, she caught a flash of green somewhere above them as they were suddenly thrust upwards, above the water and Arianna shrieked as she nearly lost her balance, but Finn caught her. letting both of them drop slowly to the ground as everything cam crashing down to the ground with a giant splash.

They were floating on the sea, not of the Locker, but of the real world. "We've made it back," she whispered as everyone got to their feet.

"It's the sunrise," Elizabeth whispered as they saw the sun rising higher into the sky. Arianna let out a sigh of relief, practically collapsing against Finn as Barbossa, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth all pulled their pistols out and pointed them at one another.

"The Brethren Court is gathering at Shipwreck Cove," Barbossa said to Jack, who was eyeing all three of the pistols that were pointed at him anxiously. "And Jack, you and I are going. There'll be no arguing that point."

"I is arguing the point," Jack responded, glaring at him. "If there's pirates that are gathering, I'm pointing my ship the other way, mate."

"The pirates are gathering to fight Beckett and you're a pirate," Elizabeth told him as Arianna hurried towards them.

"You can't run away from this one, Jack," she told him. "We need you to fight him, all of us do."

"Fight or not, you're not running, Jack," Will told him.

"If we don't stand together, they'll hunt us down one by one, until there'll be none left but you," Barbossa told him.

"Quite like the sound of that," Jack responded. "Captain Jack Sparrow, the last pirate."

"Yes, but then how would you possibly fight Beckett and Jones all by yourself?" Finn wondered. "I've seen them, one pirate doesn't stand a chance against them. We have to fight together, Captain Sparrow, if we've got any chance of stopping them."

"Suddenly, you're an expert on pirates?" Jack asked him tiredly. "I can tell you this, Lieutenant Warren, I am most definitely not going back to the Locker. Count on that."

At once, everyone clicked their guns, but no explosion went off. Arianna shook her head, already having expecting the result, which was why she hadn't been worried when they'd pulled them out. "Wet powder," she reminded them and Jack scowled.

Will shook his head, returning his useless pistol to his belt as he went over to the charts, opening them up and studying them carefully. "There's a fresh water supply on this island," he told the captains. "We can re-supply there and get back to shooting each other later."

"You lead the shore part," Jack told Barbossa not unexpectedly. "I'll stay with my ship."

"I'll not be leaving my ship in your command," Barbossa told him.

"Why don't you both go ashore and leave the ship in my command?" Will told them swiftly. "Temporarily." This seemed to be agreeable to both of them, as they went ashore to get the supplies.

Once they were gone, Arianna walked up to him, giving her brother a dangerous look. "All right, Will, what's going on?" He looked at her curiously. "Do you really think that I can't see that something's going on? What have you done?" she asked him.

Will shook his head, opening his mouth when she caught sight of the Chinese warship, the _Empress_ sailing towards them. Her mouth opened slightly as she narrowed her eyes at her brother, who had a guilty expression on his face. "I don't believe this," she sighed, walking away.


	6. Heading to Shipwreck Island

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Six: Heading to Shipwreck Island

It did not take long for the group to return from the island with Sao Feng's men, where they found the crew being held prisoner by the _Empress_'s crew. Arianna and Finn stood together, next to Elizabeth, whose guards bore signs of trying to fight with Elizabeth Swann. One of them had a swelling eye and the other a split lip. There were two guards lying dead nearby, a result of Arianna's sword, which had been managed to get away from her.

"Sao Feng, you showing up here, it's truly a remarkable coincidence," Barbossa said while Jack tried to hide behind the captain.

The Chinese pirate lord ignored him. "Jack Sparrow," he said coldly, "you paid me great insult once."

"That doesn't sound like me," Jack protested. Arianna rolled her eyes and Finn let out an exasperated breath. Sao Feng punched him squarely in the nose and Arianna winced as she heard the nose break. "Ow!" Jack stumbled back, trying to push it back into place. "Shall we call it square, then?"

"Release them!" Will had pushed his way through the crowd, pointing towards Elizabeth, Arianna, and Finn. "They're not part of the bargain."

"And what bargain be that?" Barbossa demanded, looking towards her brother incredulously.

Sao Feng nodded towards their guards. "You heard Captain Turner," he said. "Release them."

Arianna yanked free of her guards and drew her brother to the side, furious with him. "Do you even realise what's going to happen, William Turner?" she hissed at him. "Beckett and his men are on their way here. If they find out that Finn's here—"

"Nothing will happen," Will said swiftly as Gibbs told the captains what he had done. "And I need the _Black Pearl_ to free my father. That's the only reason why I came on this voyage."

Elizabeth gaped at her fiancé. "Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?" she demanded.

Her brother looked at her, a dark look on his face as he replied, "It was my burden to bear." Elizabeth shot him a scathing look as Jack looked around at them all.

"He needs the _Pearl_," Jack remarked, looking at Will. "Captain Turner needs the _Pearl._ And you felt guilty," he added to Elizabeth before looking at Barbossa. "And you and your Brethren Court. Did no one come to save me simply because they missed me?"

Half of the crew looked incredulously at him, but a few put up their hands and Jack grinned. "I'm standing over there with them," he told Sao Feng, but he hadn't even taken two steps when the Chinese pirate grabbed him.

"I'm sorry, Jack," he responded, "but there's an old friend who needs to see you first."

Jack sighed. "I'm not certain I can survive any more visits from old friends," he muttered.

Sao Feng grinned. "Here is your chance to find out," he replied, pushing him towards the edge of the _Pearl_.

Arianna looked towards the horizon as a feeling of dread filled through her as she saw the East India Trading Company ship, the _Endeavour_, heading towards them. Finn joined her, squeezing her hand tightly, but she saw the look on his face. It was filled with fear.

And she felt as though the happiness that she had been feeling since their wedding faded away and a surge of terror replaced it. _Don't think about, Arianna,_ she told herself, _just breathe, it'll be all right. There's no way that it could possibly end like this. _

Trying to stay calm, Arianna closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as the _Endeavour_ sailed closer to them and Jack was forced on board just as soldiers climbed on board, positioning themselves on board the _Pearl_. She took deep breaths, feeling slightly dizzy as they did so and grasped the side of the ship.

Unsurprisingly, Sao Feng betrayed Will and had all four of them chained up with the other prisoners. "Are you all right?" Finn hissed at her, looking worried as he looked at her. She nodded firmly. "Are you sure? You look pale."

"I'm fine," Arianna replied. "Just moved too fast, is all." Finn didn't look like he believed her, but she looked away from him as Sao Feng got into an argument with Mercer, Beckett's right-hand man.

"It's a shame that they're not bound to honour the Code of the Brethren, isn't it?" Barbossa remarked as Sao Feng was, in turn, betrayed by Beckett. "Because honour's a hard thing to come by nowadays."

"There's no honour in remaining on the losing side," Sao Feng told him sharply. He wasn't happy about the turn of events, but he wouldn't apologise for it either. "Leaving it for the winning side . . . that's just good business."

"Losing side, you say?" Barbossa repeated.

"They have the _Dutchmen_!" Sao Feng shot back at him, taking a hard step towards the captain. "Now the _Pearl_!" He pointed towards the ship they were on furiously. "And what does the Brethren have?" Whatever Sao Feng expected Barbossa to say, Arianna was sure it wasn't the one that he gave the Chinese pirate.

"We have . . . Calypso," Barbossa said. Arianna noted Tia Dalma shifted slightly as she stood calmly behind the two men.

"Calypso?" Sao Feng echoed, staring at Barbossa before casting a quick glance towards Elizabeth. "An old legend."

"No," Barbossa said, shaking his head briefly. "The goddess herself, bound in human form. Imagine all the power of the seas brought to bear against our enemy." Finn stared at Barbossa before looking towards Arianna, who was frowning slightly. "I intend to release her, but for that I need the Brethren Court." He reached out and lifted the knot that Sao Feng had tied around his neck. "All the Court."

"What are you proposing, Captain?" Sao Feng asked as he stared hungrily at Elizabeth.

"What be accepting, Captain?" Barbossa responded as Arianna realised what was about to happen. They were going to trade Elizabeth to Sao Feng, who believed her to be the ancient sea goddess, Calypso, bound in human form by the First Brethren Court.

"The girl," Sao Feng answered.

"What?" Elizabeth echoed, looking bewildered as Will glared at him in outrage, shaking his head defiantly.

"Elizabeth is not part of any bargain," he snapped.

"Out of the question," Barbossa agreed as Arianna suddenly noticed Finn had vanished from her side. She whirled around, searching frantically for her husband, as she spotted him standing a few feet away, listening carefully to the conversation above.

"What are you doing?" she whispered as he looked around at her.

"Beckett's going to make a deal with Jack, so that he'll be able to find the way to Shipwreck Cove," he said softly as he continued to listen to the discussion overhead. "They're going to try and destroy pirates by getting rid of them all at once."

Arianna shook her head, looking around just as the soldiers were suddenly shouting to their captain as the pirates suddenly started attacking the company men. "Come on!" she shouted, grabbing the first sword that she could find and blocking a soldiers attack. Whether it was because there was so few of them or they simply didn't want to get killed, the soldiers didn't take long to clear off of the ship.

An explosion came off of the _Endeavour_ as Sao Feng and his men boarded their own ship, with Elizabeth in tow, while Jack landed on the deck, grinning ear to ear. "And that was without even a single drop of rum," he remarked. Arianna shook her head.

"Prepare to make sail," she said dryly to the crew. "I hope that you made sure that they're not going to follow us," she added to Jack dryly. He shrugged carefully just as the mast came crashing down on the _Endeavour_. She paused and looked towards Jack curiously. "Do you plan everything out or does it just work out that way?" she asked.

--

With Elizabeth a captive on the _Empress_ and her brother first in the brig and then flung overboard to make a deal with Beckett—or so they thought, anyway, Arianna spent the next few nights with her husband or working on the ship with the crew. By now, the crew was so used to having her on board that none of them made the crude remarks that they had when she had first rode with Jack's crew. But it did get awfully lonely every once in awhile. Not to mention, she was worried about her brother and whatever plans he'd cooked up this time and Elizabeth.

"Look alive and keep a weather eye!" Gibbs called as they approached the fortress where they would meet the rest of the pirate lords and reunite with Elizabeth. Arianna peered over the edge, staring at the island. "Not for naught it's called Shipwreck Island, where lies Shipwreck Cove and the town of Shipwreck."

"You ever think that pirates are unimaginative when it comes to naming things?" Arianna inquired as she fell into step with Jack and Gibbs. Both of them chuckled and nodded.

"I once sailed with a geezer who lost both of his arms and part of his eye," Jack told her lightly.

"What did you call him?" Gibbs asked, looking towards the captain with interest at this notion.

Jack winced slightly. "Larry," he replied. Arianna raised her eyebrows as Gibbs looked bewildered. Suppressing a sigh, Arianna walked towards her husband, who was working on the cannons.

"Need a hand?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Finn grinned as he looked up at her.

"That would be helpful," he said as she moved to assist him in making sure that the cannons were ready for action if they were needed. She had the feeling that they were going to need them pretty soon in the near future. "So, whose this Calypso person that Barbossa was talking about?"

"A sea goddess," Arianna replied, who had already guessed who the true identity of Calypso was. "Bound in human form. She was the one who charged Davy Jones with the duty of ferrying souls lost at sea to the other side. And then, every ten years, he was allowed to come ashore to be with the woman who had stolen his heart. The same one who had given him that duty," she added more seriously.

Finn's eyebrows went up. "She was the one," he said slowly, "from the stories? The one who he fell in love with?"

Arianna nodded. "But something happened between them and she . . . she was bound in human form, by the Brethren Court, from what I gathered earlier," she added. "So, I suppose that he intends to release her from her human form. And to do that, he needs to convene the Brethren Court."

"But whose side will she be on, when she's released?" Finn responded dryly. "Do you think she knows who it was who told them how to bind her?"

Arianna's eyes flew to Tia Dalma, who was being escorted to the brig by Pintel and Ragetti. "I doubt it," she said softly as his gaze followed hers and his eyes widened in surprise. "You didn't realise?"

"No, although I don't think I'm too surprised," Finn sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. He nuzzled her gently and sighed. "Arianna? How is this all going to end?"

She met his gaze evenly. "I don't know."

And truly she didn't. As much as she would've liked to know the ending of it, for better or worse, she couldn't sense how this was all going to turn out. Much like Finn's fate, the ending of this battle was something to be decided as it was played out. And that was something that frightened Arianna even more than if she knew.

It was nightfall before they reached Shipwreck Island and the crew was hanging over the side as they saw the amount of pirates that had come to the meeting. Arianna watched carefully, her sea-blue eyes taking in the sight. Somewhere among them was her best friend and she was grateful that she was going to see one of them again.

"Look at them all," Ragetti whispered as he stared over at the great fortress in awe.

"There's not been a gathering like this in our lifetime," Barbossa agreed, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the sight. Arianna shivered slightly, knowing that the end of this would only erupt in a battle, as Jack walked up beside her, overhearing Barbossa's statement.

"And I owe them all money," he muttered.

"That's the least of your problems right now," Arianna told him as they climbed off of the ship and rowed into the fortress, where the Fourth Meeting of the Brethren Court was about to convene.


	7. The Brethren Court

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: The Brethren Court

Arianna stood next to Jack as the Brethren Court all took their seats at the table as Barbossa called the meeting to order. Pintel walked around to collect the pieces of eight from each of the captains, so that the pirate lords could be allowed to speak during the meeting. She glanced towards each of the pirate lords carefully, trying to get the measure of them as she glanced around for Elizabeth. Where was she at? Where was Sao Feng? 

"Sparrow!" one of the pirate lords said as Jack didn't move to place his own piece of eight with the others. Jack reached up for the piece of jewellery that he traditionally wore on his headband, but then lowered his hand. 

"Might I point out that we are still short one pirate lord?" he replied simply. "And I'm content as a cucumber to wait until Sao Feng joins us." He smiled pleasantly towards the other pirate lords.  
"Sao Feng is dead." Arianna whirled around to see Elizabeth standing at the entrance in a Chinese pirate outfit, usually worn by captains. "He fell to the _Flying Dutchmen_." There was an uproar at this as she thrust her sword into the globe where the other captains' swords were. 

"He made _you_ captain?" Jack asked, incredulous. "They're just giving the bloody title away now." 

"Listen!" Elizabeth shouted and the pirates slowly started to quiet down. "Listen to me! Our location has been betrayed. Jones is under the command of Lord Beckett, they're on their way here." She looked around, searching for them and smiled at Arianna, relieved as she saw her, and Arianna hurried forward, hugging her quickly before stepping back as the other pirates began to shout amongst themselves.

"Who is this betrayer?" 

"Not likely anyone among us," Barbossa answered calmly as Elizabeth looked towards Arianna, then towards the crew of the _Black Pearl_. Arianna knew at once who she was searching for. 

"Where's Will?" she asked. 

"Not among us," Jack said in an undertone. Elizabeth frowned, but said nothing as Arianna shook her head at her. 

"Don't ask," she muttered to her best friend. "It's been a long couple of days." Elizabeth smiled slightly. 

"And it matters not how they found us," Barbossa added, speaking as though none of them had spoken. "The question is, what do we do now that they have?" 

"We fight," Elizabeth declared. 

Arianna's insides coiled as she felt the Sight touching her again, as it had so many times before. But this time, it didn't just give her a small warning of something what was to come. No, this time, she felt her consciousness being pulled away to the future. She witnessed what was to come, but knew that it was not the present. 

_As the battle raged around her, Arianna raced to her husband's side, taking his hand into hers as she touched with her free hand the deadly wound that was spreading blood across his chest. _

_"Oh, god," she whispered softly, her eyes travelling up to her husband's green eyes as they focused on her feverishly. He was dying, she knew, and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it. "Finn, please . . . don't die. Not here, not this place. Please, I need you . . ." _

_"No, you don't," Finn whispered softly, groaning as he reached up and touched her face tenderly. "It's me who has always needed _you_. Anna . . . no matter what happens, don't lose yourself. You told me to stay true and I never faltered from loving you. So I need you to remain true to yourself. Never forget the girl that I fell in love with . . . because that's who you truly are." As she opened her mouth to protest, he shook his head, silencing her. "Promise me that you won't give up, that you will survive this. Promise me, Anna," he said harsher than she had ever heard him speak before. _

_"I promise," she whispered. _

_"And never let go of that promise," he added softer and she nodded, her throat too constricted to speak as she grasped his hand, but it faded away like a dream as she was pushed back into the present. _

"Anna?" 

She looked up to see her husband grasping her shoulders tightly and she leaned against him, afraid of the vision that she'd had. Why she had been cursed with such a gift, she never knew. Arianna had done nothing to deserve such a gift and she had never been horrible enough to deserve to be cursed either. 

"Are you all right?" he whispered to her. "What happened?" 

"Nothing," she lied, praying that he wouldn't see through her falsehood. "Nothing, I'm fine." 

He frowned, not believing her for a minute as the pirates began to squabble amongst themselves and the couple turned their attention back to the problem at hand. Elizabeth looked exasperated as she surveyed the brawl. "This is madness," she commented. 

"This is politics," Jack told her. 

"Meanwhile, our enemies are bearing down upon us," Elizabeth pointed out with a sigh. 

"No," Arianna replied, glancing outside. "I'd say that there's a pretty good chance that they're here already." 

Barbossa stood up onto the table and yanked out his pistol, firing it away from any of the pirates to get their attention. Everyone jumped and the bickering ceased. "It was the First Court what imprisoned Calypso," he said calmly. "We should be the ones who set her free. And in her gratitude, she will see fit to grant us boons." 

"Who's boons?" Jack replied. "Your boons? Utterly deceptive twaddle-speak, says I." 

Barbossa scowled at Jack as he stepped off the table, glaring at him furiously. "IF you have a better alternative, please, share," he said, gesturing for Jack to start speaking. 

Jack grinned. "Cuttlefish," he answered. Even Arianna's eyebrows went up at the comment. 

"Has he gone mad?" Finn wondered. 

"The answer to that question is undoubtedly yes," Arianna told him, shaking her head as Jack started to move around the table, ignoring the guards of the other captains. 

"Let us not, dear friends, forget our dear friends, the cuttlefish," Jack told them. "Flipping glorious little sausages. Pen them together, they'll devour each other without a second thought. Human nature, isn't it?" he asked. "Or fish nature. So, yes," he told Mistress Ching, "we could hole up here well-provisioned and well-armed. Half of us would be dead within the month. Which seems quite grim to me, any way you slice it. Or," he added, "we could do as my learned colleague so naively suggests and released Calypso and pray that she will be merciful. I rather doubt it," he said, shaking his head. "Can we pretend she's anything other than a woman scorned? We cannot. We are left with only one option. I agree with, and I cannot believe the words that are coming out of my mouth," he sighed, "Captain Swann." Arianna's mouth dropped open. "We must fight." 

"You've always run away from a fight!" Barbossa retorted, not looking happy that this wasn't going his way. 

"I have not!" Jack protested. "I have only ever embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit that here now that is what we all must do: we must fight . . . to run away." 

"As per the code, an act of war, and this be exactly that, can only be decided by the pirate king," Barbossa replied. 

"You made that up," Jack protested. 

"Did I, now?" Barbossa looked smug as he looked towards the end of the room. "I call upon Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code." Jack looked highly alarmed as he said this. 

"Sri Sumbhajee proclaims this all to be folly," one of the Indian pirate lords' guards said. "Hang the Code! Who cares about the—"

A gunshot rang out and hit the speaker in the heart. The pirate's eyes went wide before he fell backwards, dead before he hit the floor. Everyone looked towards the shooter and Arianna gasped as she saw an almost look-alike of Jack Sparrow, though considerably older and slightly more worn. 

"Code is the Law," Captain Teague said as Jack stood stiffly where he stood, not looking towards the newcomer while everyone around him sat down in their seats. He walked towards Jack and grinned. "You're in my way, boy," he told him. Jack moved out of the way silently as Teague motioned to two pirate, who carried over a giant book. 

"The Pirates' Code," Pintel whispered. "As set forth by Morgan and Bartholomew." 

"This isn't something that we'll ever have a chance to see again," Arianna murmured. Finn chuckled slightly and Elizabeth smiled at her best friend as the Code was unlocked and Teague flipped through the pages, settling on one as his finger slid down the page. 

"Ah! Barbossa is right," he said. The pirate captain looked smug as Jack pushed Teague out of the way. 

"Hang on a minute," he said sharply before he read down the page. "'It shall be the duties, as the king, to declare war, parley with shared adversaries . . .' Hmm, imagine that," he muttered. 

"There's not been a king since the First Court," a French pirate said stiffly. "And that's not likely to change." 

"Not likely," Teague agreed, casting a look towards his son. Jack glared at him as he walked away. 

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked. 

"You see, the pirate king is elected by popular vote," Gibbs explained to the newcomers to the Court. Arianna glanced at him, curious by this notion, but not really surprised by his next comment. "And every pirate ever only votes for himself." 

"I call for a vote," Jack said. Groans went around the table, but quieted down as the vote went underway. 

A black-haired pirate from the Barbary Coast stood up. "I vote for Ammand the corsair," he said. 

The Frenchman stood up. "Capitaine Chevalle, the penniless Frenchman," he announced. 

"Sri Sumbhajee votes for Sri Sumbhajee," the remaining guard of the Indian pirate replied. 

The Chinese female pirate was next. "Mistress Ching," she told them. 

"Gentleman Jocard," the black pirate said. 

"Elizabeth Swann," Elizabeth said with a sigh. 

"Barbossa," the pirate captain next to her said. 

"Vallenueva," a Spanish pirate with a bad temper announced as he stood up while Teague played his guitar in the background. 

"Elizabeth Swann," Jack said. If anyone would have been standing outside at that moment, they would've thought that a cannon would have exploded inside by the outrage from the other pirates at this statement. Arianna, however, couldn't have been more shocked. "Am I to understand that you lot will not bee keeping to the Code, then?" 

Everyone went quiet as Teague snapped a string on the guitar, looking towards them in quiet anger. 

"Very well," Mistress Ching said as they all sat down. She turned towards her fellow female pirate lord. "What say you, Captain Swann, King of the Brethren Court?" Everyone was quiet as they looked at Elizabeth, waiting for her answer. 

"Prepare every vessel that floats," Elizabeth told them, looking at each pirate lord. "At dawn . . . we're at war." 

Sri Sumbhajee stood up, surprising everyone as he spoke in a high, squeaky voice. "And so, we shall go to war," he announced. Everyone cheered at that statement as plans began to be made for the battle that was drawing ever so closer. 

No one noticed as Arianna slipped out the door, heading away from the pirates as she raced towards the _Black Pearl_. No one that is, saving for her husband, who watched his wife with worry in his eyes. 

At that moment, both of them knew that everything was about to change for them. Because there was no one at that moment who could have stopped the future that fate had planned for them. 


	8. The Last Hope

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eight: The Last Hope

Arianna hurried down the steps of the _Pearl_, not caring if anyone heard her or not as she took them two at a time, already knowing where her destination would take her. The one person that she needed to see was not at the meeting, but stuck in the brig, by order of the person who was trying to release her. 

"Tia Dalma!" she called as she took the last few steps. The mystic looked around at her as she reached the brig. "What is this power that was granted to me?" she asked. "Who gave it to me? Why can I see things that others can't?" 

"I told you," Tia Dalma said quietly, "you are the child born within your generation with the gift. Every generation, a child is born who has the gift of foresight. And in this one, you are that child." She paused. "Why did you come to ask me this?" 

"Because you knew what gift I had the moment that you met me," Arianna replied. "Where did it come from? Is there a way to stop the visions that I have from coming true?" 

Awareness spun into Tia Dalma's eyes. "Ah," she said softly, "so you have seen what is to come for your husband." She shook her head. "There is nothing can be done. Your fates were always meant to be together, but forever apart. His heart belongs to you as yours is his, but the lives you have led has prepared you for this battle. And one of you must be prepared to make the sacrifice." 

"Then let it be me!" Arianna insisted. "It shouldn't be him! Finn shouldn't have to pay for the choices that I made! The only choice he made was to fall in love with me! He—he shouldn't have to pay for my choice to live as a pirate! If it weren't for me, then he never would have gotten involved in this!" Arianna knew she was crying, but she didn't care. "There has to be a way!" 

Tia Dalma surveyed her critically. "Life has cruel choices in it," she said at last. "You and your brother have a touch of destiny about you. The power that you have, Arianna Turner, is more dangerous than you know. When you see things others don't, it separates you from others. Why do you push aside such a gift, when you have known all along that you will never be the girl that everyone expects you to be?" 

Arianna stared at her, then shook her head. "Because . . . because being able to sense things the way I can," she said softly, "only means that I can see their fates and not be able to do anything about it." She looked up at Tia Dalma. "And then I feel responsible for their fate, because I was not able to change it. Whoever gave this power to me, take it back!" 

"No one gave it to you," Tia Dalma said simply. "It simply chose you. This gift was meant for you, because you were born destined for greatness. No other child would have had the sheer nerve and outstanding courage to follow their brother to the ends of the earth and beyond out of devotion to them. No one else would have had the courage to fight for what they believe in, despite all odds. Did you not fight to believe in your love for Finley, even when it was doubtful that you would ever find a way back together?" Arianna frowned slightly. "Would you have given up your power, then? When you had seen what was to be? It gave you the faith that you would find your way to each other again." 

Arianna was silent for a minute as she sank down onto the ground, running her hands through her hair. "This isn't fair," she whispered softly. "I shouldn't have to choose one or the other. It shouldn't have to be my husband or my son." 

"The child will be safe and loved," Tia Dalma said softly and Arianna looked down to her stomach, where her son was growing small and safe for the moment. For the moment, anyway. "And his mother will be there every step of the way, telling him of his heroic father. You will keep Finley alive and he will be alive in your son." 

"It isn't fair," Arianna muttered. 

"No one ever said that life was fair," Tia Dalma replied. "And you may be surprised at how things turn out, Arianna Turner." She smiled slightly. "The gift of foresight is cruel, it is true. But it should never be turned away. Everything has light and dark inside of it. One day, you may be glad that you possess such a gift, child." 

Arianna looked up at Tia Dalma for a long moment. "There isn't anything that can be done?" she asked softly. 

Tia Dalma sighed for a minute, surveying Arianna critically. "I can only tell you this, Arianna Turner," she said finally. "The gift comes with the power to heal. I do not tell you this lightly," she added warningly. "You can save one person in your life. One," she repeated firmly. "The one that you choose to save will be of your own choice. No one can interfere with it." 

"I'll choose to save my husband," Arianna said stubbornly. "I'm not going to give him up now. I _can't_." 

"You say that now," Tia Dalma told her, "but you will not be so sure when the time comes. When the time for you to save the person you care about, you may come to realise that it is not your husband that you are saving." She smiled sadly at the young pirate. "You want your husband, I can see that," Tia Dalma said mystically. "And you want the child as well. But has it ever once occurred to you that perhaps you cannot have them both?" 

Standing up, Arianna walked towards the door. "We're going to battle," she said softly. "And I can tell you something, I am not going to go, knowing my husband is going to die. I will go . . . and save him any way that I can." 

"You will fail," Tia Dalma warned her. "And the grief will cause you more heartache than knowing ahead will." Arianna ignored her as she climbed up the stairs, not paying attention to where she was going. At dawn, they would be at war. But neither she nor Finn would become casualties in the battle. 

For the first time in her life, Arianna Turner was going to challenge fate. 

--

If her husband noticed any change in her demeanour, he didn't comment on it as she climbed up onto the deck of the ship at dawn as they rode out to battle. He squeezed her hand tightly and she gave a tiny smile at him as they prepared the vessel for battle. Elizabeth had done a good job in preparing for the battle; everyone was following her. But they hadn't counted on one thing . . .

And that thing was heading towards them as the pirate ships sailed out to battle. Arianna grasped Finn's arm the minute that she saw it, startling him. "Tell me that I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing?" she said faintly. 

Finn followed her gaze and gave a curse that caused some of the pirates to look at him in shock. "An armada!" he whispered, looking positively panicked. "We're facing an armada." 

"We've faced worse," Arianna said grimly, though that didn't stop the fear from fluttering up inside her chest. Finn gave her an incredulous look and she shrugged, trying to convince herself of this fact as well as Finn as Elizabeth, Barbossa, and Jack left to go negotiate with Beckett and Jones. 

She frowned slightly as she placed her hand on her unsheathed sword, laying harmlessly in her belt, casting her gaze over the sea. Finn placed his hand onto hers as she watched the negotiations take place. There was no need to be a seer to know that it was not going very well. "What are the odds that we stand a chance against an armada?" she asked, glancing towards her husband. He raised an eyebrow, then cast a glance towards the fleet. Arianna sighed. "That's what I was afraid of." 

As she suspected, Elizabeth would not hear of laying down their weapons and refusing to fight with the enemy. They exchanged Jack for Will, who was with Beckett, but only so Jack could get aboard the _Dutchmen_ and find the heart of Davy Jones. Jack would stab the heart, become the _Dutchmen_'s new captain, and free their father, so Will was free to be with Elizabeth. 

Unfortunately, things not always went according to plan. Arianna of all people knew that by now. But she was determined that her brother would live the life that he had spent so many years yearning for. 

Arianna looked towards her brother as he climbed on board and let out a sigh of relief, hurrying to greet him. Will held his sister tightly for a minute, stroking her hair as she clung to him. "I was so worried about you," she whispered softly as he released her. 

"I'm all right," he assured her as Elizabeth issued orders for the _Black Pearl_ to be the flagship to lead the attack. 

At that very same moment, Arianna noticed that Tia Dalma was being led up the steps by Pintel and Ragetti, bound in ropes. Will followed her gaze and immediately went up to Barbossa. "You can't release her," he protested. Elizabeth nodded in agreement. 

"We need to give Jack a chance," she told him. 

"Apologies, Your Majesty," Barbossa snapped at her. "Too long, my fate has not been in my own hands." He yanked the pirate lord piece of eight from her neck, snapping the cord. "No longer." 

Taking the cord and Jack's jewellery, which she suspected he'd taken without permission, Barbossa placed them onto a ritual place. "Be there some manner of ritual or incantation?" Gibbs asked. 

"Aye," Barbossa answered. "Items brought together, done. Items to be burned and someone must speak the words: 'Calypso, I release you from your human bonds.'" 

"That's it?" Ragetti asked incredulously. 

Barbossa grinned maliciously. "It is said that it must be spoken as if to a lover," he explained. The pirates around them chuckled and grinned at this statement and Arianna sighed loudly, exasperated with pirates, the lot of them. 

Placing a lit stick onto the plate, Barbossa shouted in a booming voice, "Calypso, I release you from your human bonds!" 

The items lit, but nothing happened. Barbossa scowled at the plate and Pintel whispered, "You didn't say it right." Barbossa looked towards him, angry, and the pirate gulped. "You . . . you have to say it right." Turning to Tia Dalma, he stepped towards her, laying his head onto her shoulder. "Calypso," he said softly, "I release you from your human bonds." 

Arianna grabbed Finn's hand as Tia Dalma gasped and the items melted onto the plate. The mystic started shaking madly and the plate dropped onto the ground, the items useless now. "Tia Dalma!" Will exclaimed, rushing forward, but was stopped. "Calypso!" Her eyes flew open and she stared at her brother. "When the Brethren Court first imprisoned you, who was it that told them how?" The mystic was still shaking, but her eyes were on Will. "Who was it that betrayed you?" 

"Name him!" Tia Dalma shouted at Will, but her brother didn't even flinch, didn't seem even afraid. 

"Davy Jones," he told her. A pained and heartbroken look crossed her face as Calypso began to grow larger and rose over eighty feet, staring down at them with a cruel look on her face. They tried to restrain her with the ropes, but they were useless as Calypso was released from her imprisonment. 

"Calypso!" Barbossa called as he knelt before the sea goddess. One-by-one, everyone else joined him. "I come before you as but a servant, humble and contrite. I have fulfilled my vow and now as your favour. Spare myself, my ship, my crew, but unleash your fury on those who dare pretend themselves your masters or mine." 

"This is either going to be very good or very bad," Arianna said softly. Finn sent her a glare and she shut up. 

Letting out an indistinct roar, Calypso burst into about a million crabs, the same ones that had lifted the _Pearl_ into the ocean back at the Locker, and they all dived into the sea, leaving the pirates alone in the ocean, with their last hope of survival having abandoned them. 


	9. The Death of a Beloved

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Nine: The Death of a Beloved

The winds blew overhead and the sails shuddered slightly under the pressure. Arianna glanced up, staring as the skies began to grow cloudy. They weren't alone, she realised. Calypso was assisting them, giving them the seas as they needed to fight the terrible enemy that was heading their way. An enemy that was working with the man who had betrayed her.

"It's not over," Elizabeth said quietly.

"There's still a fight to be had," Will told the crew. Gibbs looked towards him, exasperated, and shook his head.

"We've got an armada against us, and with the _Dutchmen_, there's no change," he told her brother.

"Only a fool's chance," Elizabeth said quietly. Barbossa heard her and walked up behind her.

"Revenge won't bring your father back, Miss Swann," he informed her. "And it's not something that I intend to die for."

Arianna glared at Barbossa. "We all know that," she said sharply. "But what shall we die for? You think that they're just going to let us go, if we don't fight? They will hunt us down, each and every one of us, until there is none of us left. It will never be over until we fight."

Elizabeth looked towards Arianna, a determined look crossing her face as she returned her attention to Barbossa.

"She's right," she told him before looking to the crew. "You will listen to me," she said as she climbed up onto the edge. "Listen! The Brethren will still be looking here to us, to the _Black Pearl_, to lead. And what will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No," she replied without waiting for an answer. "They will see free men and freedom! And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons. They will hear the ring of our swords and they will know what we can do. By the sweat of our brows and the strength of our backs and the courage of our hearts. Gentlemen," she said, "hoist the colours."

_I don't think anybody could have come up with a better speech,_ Arianna thought as Finn grinned next to her. "Hoist the colours," she agreed. Will nodded.

"Hoist the colours," he echoed.

"Aye," Gibbs agreed as he looked towards the sky. "The winds on our side, boys! That's all we need!"

Elizabeth looked over her shoulder towards her own ship, the _Empress_, and shouted, "Hoist the colours!"

Tai Huang raised his sword and shouted the command in Chinese. One-by-one, all the ships raised their flags, hoisting their colours into the sky, to show the enemy who they were and their pride to be it. The cheers rang out as the flags rose higher into the sky while thunder rumbled overhead and rain started to pour down.

The _Black Pearl_ and the _Dutchmen_ started to sail towards each other, the crew aboard each of them preparing for battle. Arianna, Will, Elizabeth, and Will all joined each other at the helm as they rode into the maelstrom. "Today," Barbossa grinned, "is the day worth living for."

"We're not going to survive this," Finn replied. Arianna's stomach tightened as she thought about her vision and she wished that she had never seen it. At least that way, she wouldn't be scared to death about what might or might not happen.

"Yes, we will," she said firmly as cannons started blasting apart the ship. Jumping down the steps, she raced down and issued orders to the crew that were on the cannons. "Fire all!" she shouted as both ships circled around each other within the dark abyss and both crew boarded the enemy ship, trying to take down as many as they could.

Arianna yanked out her sword just as one of Jones's men attempted to strike her down. "Oh, I remember you," she said cheerfully. "You were the one who was stopping me from helping my brother while we were on the _Dutchmen_." She shoved her sword into his stomach, kicking him down. "My compliments to your captain," she said sarcastically.

"Anna!" Finn tackled her as a shot rang out towards her, narrowly missing the both of them. His green eyes were wide and frightened as he scrambled back to his feet and raced off to attack one of Beckett's, the one who had fired towards his wife. "Look after her!" he barked towards Gibbs.

"Finn!" Arianna shouted as he chased down the soldier, who immediately recognised him.

"Lieutenant Warren," he said, laughing. "So this is where you took off to. You will never escape from here alive."

"Finn!" Arianna shrieked, racing towards her husband, not caring about the danger. In that moment, she would never forgive herself for running after her husband without thinking about the consequences.

She was seconds away from Finn when he heard her call for him and he whirled around, giving the soldier time to pull out his pistol and fire his gun straight into Finn's chest. Her husband's green eyes went wide as he grasped the wound and Arianna screamed, about to race for him when she felt a horrible pain in her stomach.

Looking down, she saw a sword sticking out from her stomach and she gasped in fear and horror as she raised her head to her attacker. The man holding the sword looked shocked that he had just assaulted a woman, but only muttered an apology as he yanked his sword away as Arianna collapsed onto the ground.

The battle swarmed around her as Arianna stared up at the sky, barely breathing as she felt her consciousness being whisked away to a field that she had seen only once before, in a vision with her son and nephew. But it was not Will's son that was there with her son this time.

"Finn?" she asked softly as she walked onto the field. Her husband looked around at her as her son grinned happily as he jumped up, racing over to her. Arianna dropped to her knees as she engulfed her son in a hug as Finn smiled at the two of them.

"Mama, look!" her son said, laughing as he pointed towards his father, who smiled down at their boy. "Daddy's here."

"I see," Arianna whispered as she scooped up her son and walked towards her husband. "Finn . . . what's going on? Where are we?"

Her husband said nothing as his green eyes looked around them, taking in the scene that lay before them carefully before he answered. "I think we both know the answer to that," he replied.

Arianna looked around her again and her heart sank. "The place in between the living and the dead," she said quietly. He nodded mutely as their son pulled out of his mother's grasp and went off to go stand by the cliff. "Careful, sweetheart, don't get too close," she warned him, instantly worrying about his safety.

"He'll be fine," Finn said softly as he looked around them again, his green eyes melancholy. "Although . . . I will miss seeing him grow up and growing old with you. It's not something that I wanted, Anna, but . . . things always happen for a reason."

Turning towards him, Arianna shook her head violently. "Finn, no," she whispered. "No . . . you can't do this. It's not your time. I know it's not your time. It's not supposed to be this way!"

"Yes, it was," Finn said firmly. "I know what Tia Dalma said to you. We were meant to be together, but eternally apart. The only comfort is that I know that I'll be leaving our son in good hands. You're going to take such great care of him, Arianna. I know you." He touched her cheek tenderly. "You've always been so strong and that's never going to change."

"I need you, Finn!" Arianna shouted, though she realised with a jolt that she was speaking from her vision as well. She had said those words in her vision. "You can't leave me here alone!"

"You don't need me," Finn told her. "You have always been strong and that's what caused me to love you so much, Anna. You can survive without me and you will." He sighed as he glanced towards their son. "Go and raise our son to be a good man. I know that you will succeed in this beyond doubt." He kissed her tenderly. "I believe in you."

Arianna closed her eyes as she let herself fall into her husband's embrace, unable to look at him for a moment. "I can't let you die, Finn," she whispered. "Not because of my mistake. If it weren't for my leaving to go pirating, then you never would have been caught up in this mess." She shook her head. "Like father, like daughter," she said bitterly.

Finn laughed as he turned her around, cupping her face into his hands. "The alternative is that you would die," he told her. "Tia Dalma said that you have to power to heal one person. And I'm telling you now, Anna, save yourself and save our son. He's still growing inside of you, which means that the two of your lives are dependant on the one. Save yourself and you save him. It's got to be you."

Arianna lowered her gaze as she turned away from Finn. "Why did we have to go so through much, just to lose each other in the end?"

"We're not going to lose each other," Finn assured her. "Look for me every day in our son. I'll survive by living through him. And besides," he added with a smile. "I'll wait for you." Arianna let out a soft sob as she buried her head into his chest.

Feeling someone wrap their arms around her leg, Arianna glanced down and saw her son looking up at his parents with confusion. "Mama?" he asked, bewildered. "Daddy? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, sweetheart," Arianna told him as she lifted her head away from her husband. "I just hate goodbyes."

Finn smiled as he squatted down next to their son. "Now, I need you to take very good care of your mother, young man," he said sternly. "You got me?"

"Yes, sir!" Their son saluted him and Arianna smiled faintly.

"And you take care of him," Finn told her softly as he stood up. "Promise me that you'll survive, Anna. No matter what happens, do not lose yourself to this. You told me to stay true and I never faltered from loving you. So I need you to remain true to yourself. Never forget the girl that I fell in love with . . . because that's who you truly are." He pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her from saying anything more. Arianna felt tears swarm down her cheeks, hearing the same words from her vision. "Promise me that you won't give up, that you'll survive this. Promise me, Anna," he said firmly.

Unable to resist that tone, knowing this was the last time she would see him for a long time, Arianna nodded. "I promise," she whispered, her throat constricted from further speech.

"And never let go of that promise," Finn added softly. She nodded, unable to speak, and he smiled as she lifted her son into her arms again. He clung to her, wrapping his arms around her neck. "It's time for you two to go back. Time for you to use that one gift."

"I don't know how," Arianna replied.

"Yes, you do," Finn insisted. She paused and closed her eyes, reaching out with all her might, pulling herself back to life and taking her son with her. Filling herself with the healing sensation, she felt the burning sense in her stomach return as a soothing feeling washed over it.

Arianna's eyes fluttered open and she touched her stomach, sensing her son's presence within her still, as she looked towards her husband.

"Finn . . ." She crawled over to him and pulled his head into her stomach. Tears filled into her eyes as she bent over him and gave him the last kiss that they would ever have in this world.


	10. Ten Years Later

**Times of Gallantry**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Ten: Ten Years Later . . .

As she sat next to Finn's body, crying, she hadn't noticed that the battle was slowly ending. Most of the enemy that was on the _Pearl_ had either been killed or abandoned ship. The _Dutchmen_ had fallen into the sea, succumbed by the whirlpool that they were swirling around in. Standing up, Arianna brushed her wet hair out of her face to stare down at the sight as Jack and Elizabeth returned to the _Pearl_, climbing up onto deck.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Jack, bewildered as to why he was on the _Pearl_ instead of becoming the new captain of the _Dutchmen_. Her eyes met Elizabeth's and suddenly noticed that her best friend looked miserable. Almost instantly, she began to panic, noting the absence of her brother. "Jack? Lizzie? Where's Will?"

Elizabeth burst into tears as she enveloped Arianna in a hug, to which Arianna returned instantly, shaking as she thought of what had happened to her brother. As she hugged Arianna, Elizabeth launched into an explanation of what had happened on the _Dutchmen_. Will had been killed by Davy Jones and in an attempt to save his life, Jack sacrificed immortality to Will, so that he could become the new captain.

"I don't believe it," Arianna whispered softly. "He's bound to the _Dutchmen_ now." She shook her head. "First Finn, now Will? Why did this have to happen?"

"He's not gone forever," Elizabeth whispered, her face miserable as she looked away. "He can come back . . . once every ten years, that is." Suddenly, she comprehended what Arianna had said and looked at her in horror. "Wait, Finn? He's . . ."

"Gone," Arianna replied, forcing herself not to start crying again. She'd had enough tears already. Elizabeth's eyes went wide and she hugged Arianna again, tightly this time, rubbing circles around her back comfortingly. Clinging to her best friend, Arianna wished that she could sit down and let herself wallow in her grief, but there was no time.

Looking up as she heard an enormous splash, Arianna let go of Elizabeth as she saw the _Dutchmen_ afloat of the water once again. And she could clearly see the new captain, the one that she had seen in her vision. "Will," she whispered, staring at her brother in amazement.

"Full canvas!" Jack yelled happily when he saw her brother. Barbossa, though momentarily immobile, agreed with him when he realised what had occurred on the ship, once their enemy now their ally.

"Prepare to fire!" Arianna shouted, pulling herself back to the present. They were in the middle of a battle; this was no time for sorrows. Forcing herself to keep her mind on the fight, she watched as the two ships sailed towards one another before turning towards the _Endeavour_.

Even from that far away, Arianna could see the disbelieving look on Beckett's face as they drew in on either side, imprisoning the _Endeavour_ between them, making it impossible for the enemy ship to escape its fate.

The moment that they were within rage, Arianna looked up towards the captain. "Jack, now!" she shouted.

"Fire!" Jack yelled. The crew lit the cannons, firing them onto the enemy ship as the _Dutchmen_ fired their own cannons at Will's command. As the two ships' cannons blasted apart the _Endeavour_, the soldiers that were aboard her jumped off of the ship, trying to get to safety before it was sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Arianna stared down at the _Endeavour_ as it was blasted apart, every inch of it becoming only bits and pieces of wood as the water seeped into it, pulling it down into the ocean, where it would remain for the rest of eternity. The moment that their flagship was sunk, the armada turned away, returning to their home and leaving the pirates victorious.

Cheers rang out across all of the pirate ships, but Arianna couldn't join in. She walked back towards her husband, kneeling down beside him as she slipped his fingers into his, tightening them carefully, knowing that he would never hold on to her again. He would never again hold her tightly against him and call her Anna.

A soft sob emerged from her and she buried her head into her hands, her shoulders racking as she let out the loss of the man she had loved more than life itself. The life she had chosen had forced her to sacrifice everything. But it had also given her the child that she had long ago foreseen. Had things turned out differently, he might never have existed. Arianna would never suggest that the choices that she made were a mistake.

It was a long time before Arianna climbed onto the deck, where Elizabeth was saying goodbye to the crew. "Mrs. Turner," Barbossa was saying as she approached behind her best friend. Arianna stared at him before looking at Elizabeth in amazement.

"What exactly did I miss while I was unconscious?" she asked weakly. Her sister-in-law laughed and hugged her briefly. Arianna was glad that they had finally wed. At least that was some small comfort, despite that they were not going to see her brother again for ten years. "Go be with your husband, Elizabeth," she said softly, looking at her straight into the eyes. "Time is short enough as it is."

As she said goodbye to the rest of the crew, Elizabeth looked at Jack and smiled at him. "Jack . . ." she said softly, "it would never have worked out between us." Arianna laughed, remembering what Jack had told Elizabeth when he had left them at Port Royal.

Jack smiled, obviously remembering, too. "Keep telling yourself that, darling," he told her. Elizabeth moved to hug him, but he stopped her. "Once was quite enough," he assured her before he looked towards Arianna as she approached him.

"Thank you for everything, Jack," she said softly as she hugged him. Jack was surprised by the gesture, but not displeased as he returned it. "And thank you for saving my brother's life." Jack smiled faintly and nodded as he pulled away from her.

"I'll make sure he has a proper burial at sea," he promised her as she looked back where Finn still lay. "He told me once that it was always his destiny to die at sea. It was a family tradition." Arianna let out a weak chuckle as she grasped his hand.

"Thank you, Jack," she told him. "I promise you, my son will know of you. And everything that you have done for me and his father." Jack nodded with a small smile as she walked away from him.

Arianna climbed into the small boat with Elizabeth, going to land with her before leaving the couple alone, partly because she wanted to give them some time alone and partly because she wanted some time to herself. Closing her eyes, she lay back across the beach, staring up at the sky with her hands behind her head. She felt a familiar presence reach around her and she looked up sharply.

"Finn?" she whispered. The air around her wrapped in her in its embrace and then he was gone. Her shoulders sagged with grief, but she didn't cry. She had done enough crying for the past day.

It was nearly sunset when Will and Elizabeth finally came and found her. Elizabeth wore only the under-dress of her captain's uniform, though Will was fully dressed. She stood up and hugged her brother tightly, though she was determined not to look at the wound on his chest, which bore the mark of where his heart had been torn from his chest. "Say hello to Father for me," she said with a faint smile.

"I will," Will promised her. "Take care of Elizabeth for me? And my nephew," he added with a smile as he touched her stomach gently. Arianna smiled at this and nodded, gripping him tighter, not wanting to let him go. His eyes drifted towards the boat that was waiting as he walked over to it, picking up the chest.

"It's always belonged to you, Elizabeth," he said, looking towards his wife. "Will you keep it safe?"

"Yes," Elizabeth whispered, taking it into her hands.

"We both will," Arianna said softly as she joined them. Will smiled at her, kissing his wife and hugging his sister tightly.

"Keep a weather eye on the horizon," he told them both as he climbed into the boat and started rowing back to the _Dutchmen_, which stood waiting for its captain while the _Black Pearl_ had vanished hours before, leaving the small family to themselves.

Arianna wrapped an arm around her sister-in-law, who returned the embrace. And as the two women watched, the flash of green appeared just as the _Dutchmen_ sailed out of view.

"And there he goes," she whispered softly. Elizabeth nodded, smiling at her before looking back towards the horizon.

"And we'll wait until the day comes when we see him again," she declared as Arianna sat down on the beach, letting the waves roll up onto her, drenching her, but Arianna relished it.

"That day," she said, "will be here before we know it."

* * *

_Ten years later . . ._

Arianna climbed up the steps an hour before dawn, walking into her sister-in-law's room. "Elizabeth," she whispered softly, waking her up. Elizabeth's brown eyes flew open. "It's nearly time."

"I know," Elizabeth said softly and laughed quietly. "I haven't been able to get to sleep all night. Oh, I must look a sight, but I can't wait to see Will again." She looked up at Arianna as she climbed out of bed and started to get dressed. "We haven't him in ten years . . ."

With a small smile, Arianna looked to Elizabeth. After the battle, Elizabeth had hung up her sword and retired from piracy, raising her son to be a good man. She had returned from the pants that she had worn during their fight against Beckett to gowns, although they were less formal than the ones she had worn as the young daughter of Governor Swann. Unlike Elizabeth, Arianna had retained the freedom that piracy had given her, refusing to revert back to the old days of wearing gowns and dresses. She, after five years with Elizabeth and her nephew, taken her son out to sea and captained a crew. They were good and honest men, though they weren't entirely happy with being captained by a woman. After a while, she had gained their trust and admiration and had sailed faithfully under her ever since. Two weeks ago, she had returned to Elizabeth, to await her brother's return. Her men were happy to be a port for the time being.

"I'm going to go wake the boys," Arianna told her as she left the Elizabeth's and headed towards the room that her son was sharing with his cousin. As she opened the door quietly, she smiled towards the sight of her beloved son, her boy, as he sat next to the window, staring out of it.

"Tristan," she said softly and he looked towards her. "Have you been up all night, darling?"

"Couldn't sleep, Mum," he replied with a grin. "Today's the day! I can't wait to meet Uncle Will!" She couldn't help laughing as he hurried to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Do you think he'll like me?"

"Oh, he'll love you," she assured him. "Just be the angel that I know is buried in there somewhere." Tristan grinned mischievously as she walked over to her nephew's bed, shaking him gently. "William, wake up, it's nearly time to meet your father."

William turned around to face her and she was surprised when he was looking up at her, wide-awake. "Has anybody slept around here?" he inquired.

"Apparently not," Arianna replied, shaking her head. "Come on, we're going to be late and you'll miss it." Neither one of them missed what she meant by that. They had both waited anxiously to see the green flash that appeared on the horizon at dawn. Arianna and Elizabeth had told them both about it enough that they couldn't wait to see it.

In ten minutes, all four of them were walking out onto the green field, with William and Tristan running ahead. Tristan, unsuccessfully, was trying to get William to sing the song his mother had taught them, "Hoist the Colours", but her nephew insisted on singing "A Pirate's Life for Me" as they raced down the hill.

Arianna smiled slightly as she and Elizabeth walked behind them. "Did you ever think that our life would turn out like this?" she asked her.

"No," Elizabeth laughed, "I hadn't the faintest idea." Arianna shook her head, humming along to the old pirate song as they walked towards the cliff, where they were in perfect view to see the _Flying Dutchmen_ as she made its way to the two women who her captain cared about most and the two boys that he had waited anxiously to meet for ten years.

Arianna reached out and drew her son closer to her as they stood on the cliff, watching the sky as it slowly brightened, the sun not yet risen, but soon to come. Tristan moved closer to his mother as all four of them watched, and waited, hardly even breathing.

With a broad smile that crossed her face, Arianna saw the flash of green as the sun appeared on the horizon, bringing the legendary ship with it. Tristan looked delighted as he looked up at his mother. Arianna smiled down at him before looking to the _Dutchmen_.

Her captain was hanging off of the edge, his smile clear even from this distance, as she watched him come ever closer into view. Arianna felt happiness wash over her as she saw her brother. "There he is," she told Tristan softly. "He's finally here."

Tristan grinned as he looked towards his cousin. "Race you down to the shore!" he yelled. "Last one to get to Uncle Will is a rotten egg!"

Both of their mother laughed as their sons raced down to the shore, eager to meet their long-lost father/uncle. "Come on, Lizzie," Arianna said, grinning towards her. "Race you."

Elizabeth laughed as Arianna took off after her son and nephew, easier to run in the long pants than Elizabeth could in her skirt. Will was finally free from the _Dutchmen_, her captain now to be her father, and they were able to live in peace, for the first time in over ten years.

"Will!" Arianna yelled as the boat came closer to him. Halfway to shore, one of the two men she had longed to see since that day she had lost her husband to death and her brother to the _Dutchmen_ dived off of the boat and swam to shore, where he was tackled by his son and nephew before his sister joined the group hug, along with his wife.

_It's finally over,_ Arianna thought as she saw the picture of their family, safe and sound and happy, in her mind. _We're free._


End file.
